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Growth and nutritional status of less privileged urban children in Saudi Arabia
1Department of Pediatrics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Insights
Saudi children in less privileged areas show faltering growth, with significant deficits emerging by 6 months. These growth issues persist into early childhood, indicating chronic and acute undernourishment risks.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Growth Monitoring
- Public Health
Background:
- Childhood growth is a key indicator of health and well-being.
- Assessing growth patterns in diverse socioeconomic settings is crucial for public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the growth status of Saudi children aged 1-71 months in a less privileged Riyadh community.
- To identify growth deficits and undernourishment prevalence using standardized references.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study design.
- Analysis of weight, height, weight-for-height, and triceps skinfold thickness.
- Comparison with NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics) and WHO (World Health Organization) references.
Main Results:
- Mean weight and height were comparable to references in infants 1-5 months old.
- Significant growth deficits in weight and height appeared from 6-11 months onwards.
- Growth faltering continued, with 14% chronically and 3% acutely undernourished by WHO criteria.
- Growth patterns differed markedly from privileged Saudi children, who resembled Western reference populations.
Conclusions:
- Children in less privileged Riyadh areas experience significant growth faltering starting in early infancy.
- Persistent growth deficits and undernourishment highlight the need for targeted nutritional support and health programs.
- Socioeconomic factors significantly impact child growth trajectories in Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
The attained growth was assessed in a cross-sectional study of Saudi children 1-71 months of age, growing up in a less privileged area of Riyadh. Individual data on weight, height and weight for height were expressed in SD scores of the NCHS reference and those of triceps skinfold thickness in percent of the reference median. The mean (SD) weight, height and weight for height of the entire material were -0.9 (1.0), -0.8 (1.0), and -0.5 (0.9), respectively and the median triceps skinfold was 90 percent of the reference median. When stratified by age groups the means were nearly identical with those of the reference populations in the 1-5 month age group. The mean weight and height were significantly below the reference means at 6-11 months, however. There was a similar decline in the mean weight for height and the median triceps skinfold during the second year of life. The growth deficits of early life remained unchanged or increased slightly up to 6 years. According to WHO criteria, 14 percent of the children were classified as chronically and 3 percent as acutely undernourished. The faltering growth was different from that of privileged Saudi children whose growth pattern was found to resemble that of Western reference populations.