Nutritional status of a school-aged child population
Keywords:
child; child development; nutritional status; studentsAbstract
Introduction: chronic childhood malnutrition constitutes a public health problem in Latin America, as it limits physical and cognitive development during childhood, particularly in rural communities.
Objective: to characterize the nutritional status of children aged six to eleven years in the community "El Túnel", Masaya Sur, during the period from September to December 2025.
Methods: a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on a population of 62 children aged 6 to 11 years who met the established inclusion criteria. An structured survey was administered to parents or guardians, and standardized anthropometric measurements were taken. Nutritional status was assessed using the WHO AnthroPlus software. Data were analyzed in SPSS v27 using frequencies and percentages. Ethical principles of research involving human subjects were followed.
Results: 62 schoolchildren were evaluated; the eight-year-old group predominated (22.60%) and male sex (51.60 %). Adequate fruit and vegetable consumption was reported in 75.80 %. Respiratory episodes occurred in 66.10 % and diarrhea in 27.40 %. A normal body mass index was observed in 90.30 %, and 12.90 % showed moderate or severe chronic malnutrition according to height/age.
Conclusions: an adequate nutritional status prevailed among the evaluated schoolchildren; however, cases of chronic malnutrition and malnutrition due to deficit or excess were identified. The findings support the need to strengthen growth surveillance, nutritional education, and prevention of infectious diseases, as well as to promote analytical studies with longitudinal follow-up in similar communities.
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