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  • Title: Nutritional status of urban Nigerian school children relative to the NCHS reference population.
    Author: Ukoli FA, Adams-Campbell LL, Ononu J, Nwankwo MU, Chanetsa F.
    Journal: East Afr Med J; 1993 Jul; 70(7):409-13. PubMed ID: 8293698.
    Abstract:
    The present study assessed the growth problems in an indigenous African population of Nigerian urban public school children. The study population consisted of 1390 Nigerian children (predominantly Igbo), 718 boys and 672 girls, ages 4-10 years. Compared to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference population, the Nigerian children had an excess prevalence of both short stature and underweight. The prevalence of short stature was 14.2% for the boys and 17.4% for the girls. Approximately 20% of the children were underweight whereas less than 1% were considered overweight. These data demonstrate an excess of both acute and chronic malnutrition relative to the NCHS reference population. In 2 urban primary schools in Benin City, Nigeria, over a 3-month period, research assistants came to the classrooms of 1390 children aged 4-10 years to take anthropometric measurements so researchers could compare the nutritional status of these school children with that of a US reference population. The Nigerian school children were much shorter than the US reference population. Specifically, boys were at the 32.4 percentile and girls were at the 31.5 percentile. Further, more than 66% of the children fell in percentiles lower than the 40th percentile for height for age. 19.9 and 19.7 were the mean weight for age percentiles for boys and girls. Almost 85% of the children were below the 40th percentile of the US reference population for weight for age. More than 80% were below the 40th percentile for weight for height. 14.2% of boys and 17.4% of girls were short for their age. 19.5% of boys and 21.1% of girls were undernourished (i.e., underweight). Just less than 1% were overweight. The researchers called for further research to learn more about interpretation of growth patterns and problems between developing and developed countries, since a US reference may not be suitable for all populations.
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