Evaluation of Nutritional Status in Children Under Five Years of Age in the West of Algeria PDF

Keywords

Algeria, children, malnutrition, wasting, stunting, underweight, WHO, reference, median value

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate nutritional status with its different forms: normal, wasting, stunting and underweight by using respectively the anthropometric indices P/T, T/A and P/A in 2645 children under five years of age in the west of Algeria. With percentages below -2 standard deviation from the WHO reference median values, the prevalences of wasting, stunting and underweight are respectively 18.7%, 35.3% and 17.2%. This study concluded that the majority of malnourished children had illiterate mothers or mothers with low educational levels, lived in numerous or poor families. The health consequences of height prevalence of malnutrition in this study are severe, there is an urgent need to accelerate significant economic development until optimal child growth and development are ensured for the majority of children in Algeria.