Call Prefix : PR-T

Call Suffix : 1979

Call Cutter : T - ApNu 4

Location : SEARCA Library

Format : TD

Publisher : University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB),

Publication Date : September 1979

Publication Place : College, Laguna, Philippines :

Summary : The study sought: (1) to appraise the nutritional status of elementary school children by height and weight measurement and nutrient deficiencies based on clinical signs and symptoms; (2) to determine the relationship of nutritional status of school children with the demographic characteristics of the child, and socioeconomic and sociocultural factors of the family; and (3) to determine the relationship of socioeconomic factors of the family and nutritional status of the school children under varying sociocultural conditions of the mothers. The data were collected using interview schedule, anthropometric measurements, and clinical examination methods of nutritional assessment. Three hundred elementary school children and their parents in the district of Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental, were used as the subjects of the study. The school children included 141 males and 159 females while the parents consisted of 280 fathers and 292 mothers. Majority of the children came from low-income families, with an average household size of 7.3. Most of the fathers (majority of whom were farmers) and mothers (most of whom were full-time housekeepers), finished the elementary education. The mothers were nutritionally knowledgeable but low in exposure to external influences. It was found that there were more children (69.0 percent) suffering from varying degrees of malnutrition by weight classification than by height (25.0 percent). Clinical examinations revealed symptoms of protein-calorie, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, thiamine, iodine, and niacin deficiencies. The nutritional status of each school child was related to his/her ordinal position and age, household size, family income and mother's education. The mothers' knowledge of nutrition was related to their education and family income while their exposure to external influences was related to their education, occupation, household size, and family income.