Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq

Riyadh Lafta; Hala Al Saraf; Saba Dhiaa; Qudama Ahmed

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq

Riyadh Lafta, Hala Al Saraf, Saba Dhiaa, Qudama Ahmed

Published in Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 3)

Received: 5 April 2017 Accepted: 13 April 2017 Published: 23 May 2017

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Abstract

Malnutrition is one of the major public health challenges in developing countries especially those experiencing security instability. Not much is known of the nutritional status of displaced children in Iraq. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of internally displaced children in Dream city-Salaheddin-Iraq to provide a validated baseline information for further humanitarian responses to help those children. The “Dream city” in Salaheddin governorate was chosen for it represents a large collection of displaced families. A total of 788 children (less than 5 years) was surveyed. Height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference were measured. Under-nutrition was found in 19.2% of them according to body mass index, and 19.5% when using mid-upper arm circumference index. The prevalence of wasting was 14.6% and severe wasting 6.9%. There was a significant association between under-nutrition and number of the children in the family, age of the child, and father’s and mother’s education. A noticeable percentage of children were hardly consuming meat, eggs or fruits (only once or none per week). About one child in every five displaced children is undernourished. The percentiles of different anthropometric measurements for height, weight, body mass index, and mid upper arm circumference for those children were below the standard measurements reported by WHO and NCHS growth charts for the corresponding age.

Published in	Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19
Page(s)	122-130
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Nutrition, Assessment, Children, Internally Displaced, Dream City, Iraq

References

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[6]	Refugees International. Little Aid and Few Options, November 2015. http://static1.squarespace.com/static/506c8ea1e4b01d9450dd53f5/t/5633c6bfe4b03216fd2ea132/1446233807064/Displaced+in+Iraq%3A+Little+Aid+and+Few+Options Accessed 30 Dec 2016.
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[8]	OCHA. Iraq Humanitarian Needs Overview, 2015. http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/2015_iraq_humanitarian_needs_overview_0.pdf.Accessed 27 Dec 2015.
[9]	IOM. Displacement in Iraq reaches nearly 3.2 million. http://iomiraq.net/article/0/displacement-iraq-reaches-nearly-32-million-iom. Accessed 22 Dec 2015.
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[17]	Mohammadinia N, Sharifi Poor H, Rezaei MA, Heydari khayat N. The Prevalence of Malnutrition among Children under 5 Years old referred to Health Centers in Iranshahr during 2010-2011. JOHE, Autumn 2012; 1.
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APA Style

Riyadh Lafta, Hala Al Saraf, Saba Dhiaa, Qudama Ahmed. (2017). Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 5(3), 122-130. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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ACS Style

Riyadh Lafta; Hala Al Saraf; Saba Dhiaa; Qudama Ahmed. Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. J. Food Nutr. Sci. 2017, 5(3), 122-130. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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AMA Style

Riyadh Lafta, Hala Al Saraf, Saba Dhiaa, Qudama Ahmed. Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. J Food Nutr Sci. 2017;5(3):122-130. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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@article{10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19,
  author = {Riyadh Lafta and Hala Al Saraf and Saba Dhiaa and Qudama Ahmed},
  title = {Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq},
  journal = {Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences},
  volume = {5},
  number = {3},
  pages = {122-130},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfns.20170503.19},
  abstract = {Malnutrition is one of the major public health challenges in developing countries especially those experiencing security instability. Not much is known of the nutritional status of displaced children in Iraq. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of internally displaced children in Dream city-Salaheddin-Iraq to provide a validated baseline information for further humanitarian responses to help those children. The “Dream city” in Salaheddin governorate was chosen for it represents a large collection of displaced families. A total of 788 children (less than 5 years) was surveyed. Height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference were measured. Under-nutrition was found in 19.2% of them according to body mass index, and 19.5% when using mid-upper arm circumference index. The prevalence of wasting was 14.6% and severe wasting 6.9%. There was a significant association between under-nutrition and number of the children in the family, age of the child, and father’s and mother’s education. A noticeable percentage of children were hardly consuming meat, eggs or fruits (only once or none per week). About one child in every five displaced children is undernourished. The percentiles of different anthropometric measurements for height, weight, body mass index, and mid upper arm circumference for those children were below the standard measurements reported by WHO and NCHS growth charts for the corresponding age.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq
AU - Riyadh Lafta
AU - Hala Al Saraf
AU - Saba Dhiaa
AU - Qudama Ahmed
Y1 - 2017/05/23
PY - 2017
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19
DO - 10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19
T2 - Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences
JF - Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences
JO - Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences
SP - 122
EP - 130
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2330-7293
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19
AB - Malnutrition is one of the major public health challenges in developing countries especially those experiencing security instability. Not much is known of the nutritional status of displaced children in Iraq. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of internally displaced children in Dream city-Salaheddin-Iraq to provide a validated baseline information for further humanitarian responses to help those children. The “Dream city” in Salaheddin governorate was chosen for it represents a large collection of displaced families. A total of 788 children (less than 5 years) was surveyed. Height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference were measured. Under-nutrition was found in 19.2% of them according to body mass index, and 19.5% when using mid-upper arm circumference index. The prevalence of wasting was 14.6% and severe wasting 6.9%. There was a significant association between under-nutrition and number of the children in the family, age of the child, and father’s and mother’s education. A noticeable percentage of children were hardly consuming meat, eggs or fruits (only once or none per week). About one child in every five displaced children is undernourished. The percentiles of different anthropometric measurements for height, weight, body mass index, and mid upper arm circumference for those children were below the standard measurements reported by WHO and NCHS growth charts for the corresponding age.
VL - 5
IS - 3
ER -

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Author Information

Riyadh Lafta

Family and Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq
Hala Al Saraf

Iraq Health Access Organization, Baghdad, Iraq
Saba Dhiaa

College of Health & Medical Technologies, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq
Qudama Ahmed

Salaheddin Health Directorate, Baghdad, Iraq

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Riyadh Lafta, Hala Al Saraf, Saba Dhiaa, Qudama Ahmed. (2017). Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 5(3), 122-130. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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ACS Style

Riyadh Lafta; Hala Al Saraf; Saba Dhiaa; Qudama Ahmed. Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. J. Food Nutr. Sci. 2017, 5(3), 122-130. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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AMA Style

Riyadh Lafta, Hala Al Saraf, Saba Dhiaa, Qudama Ahmed. Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. J Food Nutr Sci. 2017;5(3):122-130. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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@article{10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19,
  author = {Riyadh Lafta and Hala Al Saraf and Saba Dhiaa and Qudama Ahmed},
  title = {Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq},
  journal = {Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences},
  volume = {5},
  number = {3},
  pages = {122-130},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfns.20170503.19},
  abstract = {Malnutrition is one of the major public health challenges in developing countries especially those experiencing security instability. Not much is known of the nutritional status of displaced children in Iraq. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of internally displaced children in Dream city-Salaheddin-Iraq to provide a validated baseline information for further humanitarian responses to help those children. The “Dream city” in Salaheddin governorate was chosen for it represents a large collection of displaced families. A total of 788 children (less than 5 years) was surveyed. Height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference were measured. Under-nutrition was found in 19.2% of them according to body mass index, and 19.5% when using mid-upper arm circumference index. The prevalence of wasting was 14.6% and severe wasting 6.9%. There was a significant association between under-nutrition and number of the children in the family, age of the child, and father’s and mother’s education. A noticeable percentage of children were hardly consuming meat, eggs or fruits (only once or none per week). About one child in every five displaced children is undernourished. The percentiles of different anthropometric measurements for height, weight, body mass index, and mid upper arm circumference for those children were below the standard measurements reported by WHO and NCHS growth charts for the corresponding age.},
 year = {2017}
}

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