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Growth patterns of Palestinian children from birth to 24 months
Ali Albelbeisi1, Zalilah Mohd Shariff1, Chan Yoke Mun1
1Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Insights
Growth faltering in Palestinian children under two is a significant concern, with stunting affecting one-fifth by age two. Urgent preventive strategies are needed to address early life undernutrition in Gaza.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Child Nutrition
Background:
- Early life growth faltering has long-term health consequences.
- Growth monitoring data is crucial for effective interventions.
- Limited data exists on growth patterns of Palestinian children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the growth patterns of children under two years old in Gaza, Palestine.
- To provide essential data for public health strategies addressing child growth.
- To identify early life growth faltering in a vulnerable population.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study in 10 primary health care clinics in Gaza.
- Utilized weight and length data from health cards of children born in 2012.
- Calculated z-scores and compared them against the WHO Growth Standard (2006).
Main Results:
- Length-for-age declined significantly after 6 months, reaching -0.85 SD at 24 months.
- Stunting prevalence increased from 9% at 6 months to 20% at 24 months.
- Girls showed higher rates of stunting, underweight, and wasting at various ages.
Conclusions:
- Early life undernutrition, especially stunting, is a critical issue for children in Gaza.
- Preventive strategies targeting early life causes of growth faltering are urgently required.
- Addressing nutritional deficits is essential for improving long-term child health outcomes.
Background:
Growth faltering in early life can adversely affect health in later childhood and adulthood. Growth monitoring of children can provide evidence to help formulate effective strategies to address growth problems but such information on Palestinian children is lacking.
Objectives:
This study aimed to determine the growth patterns of children under 2 years in Gaza, Palestine.
Methods:
This retrospective cohort study was conducted in 2014 in 10 randomly selected primary health care clinics in 5 governorates of Gaza. Weight and length data were obtained from the health cards of children born in 2012, and z-scores were calculated and compared with the WHO Growth Standard (2006).
Results:
A total of 2 632 children's cards were included at the beginning of the study. Weight-for-age and weight-forlength decreased from birth to 6 months to about -0.40 SD but increased afterwards to -0.11 SD and 0.34 SD at 24 months respectively. Length-for-age declined after 6 months, reaching -0.85 SD at 24 months. At 6 months, the prevalence of underweight and stunting were 5% and 9% but at 24 months, the prevalence was 4% and 20% respectively. Wasting was highest at 6 months (10%) but decreased to 3% at 24 months. Significantly more girls were stunted at 9, 12 and 18 months (P < 0.001), underweight at 24 months (P < 0.05) and wasted at 12 months (P < 0.05). Early life faltering in length was more pronounced than weight, with stunting occurring in one fifth of boys and girls by 2 years of age.
Conclusions:
Preventive strategies are urgently needed to address early life causes of undernutrition, particularly stunting, in Palestinian children in Gaza.
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