Prevalence of Stunting, Underweight and Wasting according to National Center for Health Statistics Criteria in Rural Children Aged under Six Years in Zahedan, Iran, in 2010

The evaluation of growth in children in addition to show nutritional status and health of children in each community is considered as a valid tool for measuring quality of life (QoL). UNICEF reported a total of 40،000 daily deaths due to malnutrition. The present study was conducted to review the nutritional status of rural children under 6 in Zahedan، Iran. In a cross-sectional study، 514 rural children 6 to 59 months by multistage random sampling and by questionnaire، interview and house-to-house survey in Zahedan were studied. Data collection tools were scale، questionnaire and metric measurement. Data analysis performed by Nutritional survey، besides anthropometric data were compared to National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). According to these criteria، the moderate and severe underweight، wasting and stunting was Z score ≤ -2 and severity of malnutrition was defined as mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) less than 115. 17. 3%، 25. 5% and 6. 8% of the studied children had moderate to severe underweight، stunted and wasted، respectively. Overall average height (83 ± 11. 4 vs. 82 ± 12. 2)، weight (11 ± 2. 6 vs. 10 ± 2. 6) and MUAC (145 ± 14. 3 vs. 141 ± 16. 2) in the boys was higher than the girls. The prevalence of stunting (29. 7% vs. 22. 5%)، underweight (20. 7% vs. 15. 7%) and wasted (9. 8% vs. 4. 4%) were higher in boys than in girls (P > 0. 05). The findings indicated that the prevalence of malnutrition is one of public problems in the rural children under 6 in Zahedan. Thus، this suggested that the gap might be filled by improvement in nutrition and health services along with the socio-economic development.