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Nutritional Status of Schoolchildren in Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental
Thesis Abstract:
The study sought to: 1) appraise the nutritional status of elementary schoolchildren by height and weight measurement and nutrient deficiencies based on clinical signs and symptoms; 2) determine the relationship of nutritional status of schoolchildren with the demographic characteristics of the child, and socioeconomic and sociocultural factors of the family; and 3) determine the relationship of socioeconomic factors of the family and nutritional status of the schoolchildren under varying sociocultural conditions of the mothers.
Data were collected using interview schedule, anthropometric measurements, and clinical examination methods of nutritional assessment. Three hundred elementary schoolchildren and their parents in the distrcit of Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental, Philippines were used as subjects of the study. The schoolchildren included 141 males and 159 females while the parents consisted of 280 fathers and 292 mothers.
The majority of the children from low-income families, with an average household size of 7.3. Most of the fathers (the majority of whom were farmers) and mothers (most of whom were full-time housekeepers), completed their elementary education. The mothers were nutritionally knowledgeable but low in exposure to external influences. it was found that there were more children (69%) sufferingfrom varying degrees of malnutrition by weight classification than by height (25%). Clinical examinations revealed symptoms of protein-calorie, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, thiamine, iodine, and niacin, deficiencies.
The nutritional status of each schoolschild was related to his/her ordinal position and age, household size, family income, and mother's education. The mother's knowledge of nutrition was related to their education and family income while their exposure to external influences was related to their education, occupation, household size, and family income. Of the intervening variables, nutritional knowledge was found to be significantly related to the nutritional status of schoolchildren. High nutrition knowledge of mothers had an influence on the relationship of nutritional status, education, of mothers, and family income.