Intestinal parasites, nutritional status and physchomotor development delay in migratory farm worker's children

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of intestinal parasites, nutritional status and physchomotor developmental delay and anaemia in children of migratory seasonal farm worker families.

In this cross-sectional study, 168 children aged between 6 and 59 months selected through probability sampling method were contacted in the Sanliurfa district of south-eastern Anatolia of Turkey. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, anthropometry and Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory to measure physchomotor development. In order to evaluate the anaemia, finger-prick blood samples were used and laboratory analyses of faecal samples were conducted.

55.4% of children were infected by intestinal parasites. The most common infections involved the protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis (37.2%). Of the children 17.8% had general psychomotor development delay. Regarding the nutritional status of the 168 children who participated, 38.1% were stunted, 20.8% were underweight, and 5.4% were wasted. Of these children, 16.6% were anaemic.

The findings demonstrated that the children of migratory seasonal farm workers were defined as a high-risk group in terms of nutritional status, intestinal parasites and physchomotor development delay. Therefore, the effective delivery of mobile environmental and individual primary healthcare services to the farm workers' children must be ensured both while residing in the agricultural zone and in their permanent addresses.