Medicina comunitaria y educación para la salud

Abstracto

A Comparative Study of Nutritional Status in Government vs. Private School Children

Prakash PS, Kiranmayi Y, Parvathi R

Malnutrition is a serious problem among children in Developing Countries. In India; Mid-Day meal program is in place to combat malnutrition in Government schools. This is a cross sectional study of the nutritional status among 350 school children of ages 10 to 16 years. It includes children of a private school and a government school. The weight and height of each child was taken and the BMI was calculated. There is no incidence of overweight and moreover there was under weight of 44% in government school. In private school there is incidence of 6.8% of overweight and there is no incidence of underweight. The mid-day meal scheme of 700 Kcal in government school is slightly insufficient to cater to the caloric requirement of the children.