Comparison of the effectiveness of an intervention program to improve the nutritional status of children aged 2-6 years in Day Care Centers of East and West of Iran

Subject Areas :

Zahra Madani ¹ , Maryam Moussavi Jordi ² , Mina Minaie ³ , Ahmadreza Dorosty Motlagh ⁴ , Zahra Abdollahi ⁵ , Fariba Babaei ⁶ , Zahra Abasalti ⁷ , Ariyo Movahedi ⁸

1 - Department of Nutrition, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University
2 - Department of Nutrition, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University
3 - Faculty of Nutrition & Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences| Community Nutrition Improvement Office of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education
4 - Faculty of Nutrition & Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences
5 - Community Nutrition Improvement Office of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education
6 - Community Nutrition Improvement Office of Urmia Medical University
7 - Biochemistry and Nutrition Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
8 - Department of Nutrition, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University

Received: 2018-03-27 Accepted : 2018-06-12 Published : 2018-06-01

Keywords: Obesity, Overweight, Pediatric, Malnutrition, Underweight,

Abstract :

Child health is very vital in all societies, which is prejudiced by the interaction of numerous factors. Pediatric healthy nutrition is one of the most imperative and influential elements in the health of children which affects anthropometric indices. In this study, the effectiveness of one meal warm food for the rural kindergarten of two main cities in the East and West of I.R. Iran Urmia and Mashhad have been carried out. In this cross-sectional study, anthropometric z scores of 5508 children (2750, Urmia vs 2758, Mashhad) were measured by using WHO Anthro and Anthro plus software based on WHO 2007 standards and analyzed using SPSS. Based on the present findings, 16% of children from West and 15% of children from the East showed moderate to severe lower weight for height. In addition, girls showed more severe underweight than boys did. BMI-for-age children from the West and the East approximately showed 14% and 15% of moderate to severe underweight and dropped to about 9% and 12% respectively. Moreover, the percentage of overweight of children in the study was lightly changed to obese especially in boys from the West. Between the two genders, male and female, overweight in girls and obesity in boys found higher than the opposite sex, and relatively similar trends have continued after the intervention in the west. This project was successful to lower moderately severe wasting in children based on body mass index from 7% to about 5% in the west and from 6% to about 5% in the east too. The slight increase in the scale of overweight and obesity and a half percent of overweight children from the west after the program was shown. Even though boys from the West showed a higher increase of obesity than girls had more overweight than boys did, but there was no change before and after intervention in the east, reduction of moderate and severe underweight found similarly in both genders. Due to the relative success of the present intervention plan, nutritional education along these kinds of projects may improve the nutritional status of children in society and prevent pediatric malnutrition.

References:

1. Fanjiang G, Kleinman RE. Nutrition and performance in children. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. 2007;10(3):342-7.


2. Neumann CG, Gewa C, Bwibo NO. Child nutrition in developing countries. Pediatric Annals. 2004;33(10):658-74.


3. UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group released the 2018 edition of the joint child malnutrition estimates for the 1990–2017.


4. UNICEF-WHO-The World Bank: Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates – 2018 edition.


5. Hickel J. The true extent of global poverty and hunger: questioning the good news narrative of the Millennium Development Goals. Third World Quarterly. 2016;37(5):749-67.


6. Chisti MJ, Tebruegge M, La Vincente S, Graham SM, Duke T. Pneumonia in severely malnourished children in developing countries–mortality risk, aetiology and validity of WHO clinical signs: a systematic review. Tropical Medicine & International Health. 2009;14(10):1173-89.


7. Kerzner B, Milano K, MacLean WC Jr, Berall G, Stuart S, Chatoor I. A practical approach to classifying and managing feeding difficulties. Pediatrics. 2015;135(2):344-53.


8. Shields B, Wacogne I, Wright CM. Weight faltering and failure to thrive in infancy and early childhood. The BMJ. 2012;345:e5931.


9. Leung AK, Marchand V, Sauve RS, Society CP, Nutrition, Paediatrics GCJ, et al. The ‘picky eater’: The toddler or preschooler who does not eat. Paediatrics & Child Health. 2012;17(8):455-7.


10. Martins VJ, Toledo Florencio TM, Grillo LP, Do Carmo PF, Martins PA, Clemente APG, et al. Long-lasting effects of undernutrition. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2011;8(6):1817-46.


11. Madani Z, Jordi MM, Minaie M, Motlagh AD, Abdollahi Z, Babaei F, et al. Care Centers of East & West of Iran.


12. Olds T, Maher C, Zumin S, Peneau S, Lioret S, Castetbon K, et al. Evidence that the prevalence of childhood overweight is plateauing: data from nine countries. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. 2011;6(5-6):342-60.


13. Organization WH. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic: World Health Organization; 2000.


14. Bray G, Kim KK, Wilding JPH. Obesity: a chronic relapsing progressive disease process. A position statement of the World Obesity Federation. Obesity Reviews. 2017;18(7):715-23.


15. Sahoo K, Sahoo B, Choudhury AK, Sofi NY, Kumar R, Bhadoria AS. Childhood obesity: causes and consequences. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Car. 2015;4(2):187-92.


16. Singh AS, Mulder C, Twisk JW, Van Mechelen W, Chinapaw MJM. Tracking of childhood overweight into adulthood: a systematic review of the literature. Obesity Reviews. 2008;9(5):474-88.


17. Organization WH, Unicef. WHO child growth standards and the identification of severe acute malnutrition in infants and children: joint statement by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund. 2009.


18. Galal O. Nutrition-related health patterns in the Middle East. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2003;12(3):337-43.


19. Rahim HFA, Sibai A, Khader Y, Hwalla N, Fadhil I, Alsiyabi H, et al. Non-communicable diseases in the Arab world. The Lancet. 2014;383(9914):356-67.


20. Fatemeh T, Mohammad-Mehdi H-T, Toba K, Afsaneh N, Sharifzadeh G. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in preschool children (2–5-year-olds) in Birjand, Iran. BMC Research Notes. 2012;5(1):529.


21. Gaeini A, Kashef M, Samadi A, Fallahi A. Prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity in preschool children of Tehran, Iran. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences. 2011;16(6):821-7.


22. Payandeh A, Saki A, Safarian M, Tabesh H, Siadat Z. Prevalence of malnutrition among preschool children in northeast of Iran, a result of a population based study. Global Journal of Health Science. 2013;5(2):208-12.


23. Ebrahimzadehkor B, Kalantari N, Abadi AR, Kabir MJ. Nutritional status and related factors in children, Bandar Turkmen district, Iran. Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences. 2014;16(8):29-33.


24. Sheykhi M, Eftekhari NM, Hadipour M, Esmaillzadeh A. 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. Health System Research. 2013;9(2):153-8.


25. Houshiar Rad A, Dorosty A, Kalantari N, Abdollahi M, Abtahi M. Prevalence of stunting, underweight, wasting and overweight among Iranian under-five-year-old children (2000-2002). Iranian Journal of Nutrition Sciences & Food Technology. 2009;3(4):49-56.