Saima N Mohsin, Mahak Fatima, Muhammad Aasim, Rooshan Ghous.
Comparison of nutritional status among, flood affected and unaffected school aged children.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;56(2):39-43.

Background: Natural disasters like floods affect large human populations by not only displacing them temporarily but also poses nutritional issues to women and children. Objectives: To determine the long term effects of floods, on the nutritional status of school going children in Pakistan. Study design, settings and duration: A cross sectional study which was conducted in public schools of district Nowshera which is a large district of province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan from February 2012 to March 2014. Subjects and Methods: A total of 353 children aged 6-14 years were enrolled. There were 190 children from flood affected areas and 163 controls from unaffected areas. Using height, weight, age and gender, malnutrition indicators like acute malnutrition, chronic malnutrition and underweight were calculated to evaluate effect of flood on these children after 20 months of the calamity. Weight for age (WAZ) was used to measure underweight, height for age (HAZ) to measure stunted growth, and weight for height (WHZ) to measure wasting or acute malnutrition. The malnutrition indicators which were positively associated with floods were further evaluated for associated factors. Results The frequency of acute malnutrition or wasting (WHZ) among flood affected children was 23.7% as compared to 16.5% among unaffected children while the frequency of underweight (WAZ) in flood affected areas was 42.1% as against 36.8% in unaffected areas (both were not significant). The frequency of chronic malnutrition or stunting (AZ) was 35.8% in affected and 27.6% in unaffected children (p< 0.041) and was the only positively associated indicator with exposure to floods. Factors associated with chronic malnutrition were age of the child, maternal education, history of fever, administration of de-worming medication and diarrhea. Conclusion: Floods had a long term effect on nutritional status of school aged children as shown by chronic malnutrition or stunting. Policy message: Following floods and natural disasters, appropriate measures should be taken by the policy makers and the health departments to ensure provision of good food to fulfil nutritional requirements of school aged children. Key words: Malnutrition, floods, school aged, children.

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