Sahibzada Syed Masood, Saleh Muhammad, Zahid Kaleem Butt.
Nutritional assessment of children under the age of sixty months in district Sialkot, Pakistan.
J Pak Med Students Jan ;1(1):7-12.

Background: The primary objective of the study was to assess the prevalence and degree of malnutrition in the district Sialkot, Pakistan. A secondary objective was to assess the frequency of the risk factors associated with malnutrition. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted in different areas of the district Sialkot, from January 2003 to June 2003. Children of ages 0 to 60 months were included in the study. The frequency and percentages were calculated. Results: We found that 771 (53.8%) children were suffering from malnutrition while 662 (46.2%) were normally nourished. Among the malnourished children, 243 (31.5%) were in the first degree, 265 (34.4%) were in the second degree, and 264 (34.1%) were in the third degree malnutrition. Mother of 416 (29%) children and fathers of 281 (19.6%) children had no formal education. Fathers of 1222 (85.2%) children earned less than Rs.8000/month. Mothers of only 207 (14.5%) children exclusively breast fed their children for six months; and only 450 (31.4%) of the children belonged to a small family size (n≤ 4). Conclusion: Every second child under the age of five years was malnourished in Sialkot, Pakistan. Illiteracy, large family size, lack of breast feeding, and poverty, were the main factors responsible for malnutrition in children, of the district Sialkot.

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