ANTHROPOMETRIC STUDY OF ETHIOPIAN PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN

A community based cross sectional anthropometric study was conducted t o assess the nutritional status of children under 5 years of age in no rth western Ethiopia. One thousand four hundred and twenty two childre n were enrolled in the study. Stunting which is expressed by height fo r age below -2 standard deviation (SD) was seen in 43% of the children . The prevalence of wasting which is expressed by weight for height be low -2 SD was 9%. The highest percentages of stunting and wasting were found in the age group 12-23 months. Compared with the national Cente r for Health Statistics (USA)/World health organization (NCHS/WHO) ref erence data all the indicators were shifted to the left. Urgent nutrit ional rehabilitation for those that are wasted, proper nutritional edu cation, for reducing the high prevalence of malnutrition and identifyi ng risk factors for the poor nutritional status is suggested.