Nutritional Status of School Children in Tripoli City, Libya 2012

Enayat Mahmoud Hassan¹, Laila Ashour Khalifa Hashad¹ and Magda Ibrahim Hassan^1,

¹Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

Cite this paper:
Enayat Mahmoud Hassan, Laila Ashour Khalifa Hashad and Magda Ibrahim Hassan. Nutritional Status of School Children in Tripoli City, Libya 2012. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2016; 4(4):223-229. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-4-4-5

Abstract

This investigation aimed to assess the nutritional status & the prevalence of obesity among school children in Tripoli, Libya. 94 children were chosen randomly from primary private schools in central Tripoli. A structured questionnaire was done, then administered to mothers to get demographic data. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC), and Body Fat Percentile (BFP)). Each mother was asked to complete 24 hour recall on three days for every child. Blood biochemical parameters of children (hemoglobin, minerals & vitamins) were estimated. About 90% of children took over their requirements of fat and carbohydrates. Most of the children did not get their requirements from vitamin D according to 24 h recall. One third of children were stunted (H/A average 133.78cm). About 50% of children were over-weighted or obese according to anthropometric measurement. The values of serum hemoglobin, and vitamin B₁₂ levels were normal in all children. On the contrary, 66% of school students had low concentrations (<10 ng/ml) of vitamin D. Fat intake of the majority of children (90.4%) was high. However, 78.8% of them consumed potato chips (p= 0.027). More than half of obese children (21.3%) got daily expenses of two LYD or more (p= 0.05) (relationship between pocket money and BMI). A positive correlation (r = 0.222; P < 0.005) was noted between pocket money and body fat percentile. A highly significant correlation (r = 0.332; P < 0.001) was observed between body fat percentile and arm circumference. This study found a prevalence of over-weight, obesity, stunting and deficiency of vitamin D among primary school children in Tripoli, Libya. Similar studies are needed to do in the future in different areas in Libya.

Keywords:
24 hour recall Anthropometry Nutrient Intake BMI Percentiles Blood Analysis School children Libya

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