Pediatric Infectious Diseases: Open Access

Abstract

In Pakistan a total of 1.4 million children suffering from malnutrition, whereas 31% are underweight, 42% are stunted and 17.7% are suffering from severe wasting. The nutritional status of the population is not satisfactory and improper diet is affecting people of all ages especially children. This study will help to assess the nutritional status of school-going children with respect to their eating habits. The population of this study involved school-going children aged 8 - 14 years. The study was conducted in various private and public sector schools of Lahore city. Questionnaire involved questions about demographic features, anthropometric measurements, games usually played by students, 24-hour dietary recall and food frequency table including of food items from all food groups and their consumption by students about 40 food items were added in food frequency table. Results showed that average total estimated caloric intake showed that only 29% children were consuming 2000 calories, 39% were consuming 1500 calories and 32% of children were consuming less than 1000 calories per day. It is concluded that the dietary practices of school-going children of age 8 - 14 years are variable and unhealthy eating pattern is very common. A large number of students don’t consume any vegetables and fruits according to the recommendations leading to micronutrient deficiencies and many other nutritional consequences. It has been found that some children in our study skip their lunch. The study showed that a large number of them are not eaten vegetables and fruits according to the recommendations which lead to hidden hunger and many other nutritional consequences.