Anthropometry and Nutritional Status of Primary School Children in a Sub-urban Region in Tanzania

Although undernutrition in children is widely recognized as a major health problem in Tanzania, region-specific prevalence data remain scarce. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of stunting and thinness among primary-school-aged children in a village in the Arusha region in Tanzania, with the aim of developing a targeted nutritional support program.
In the present school-based cross-sectional study, anthropometric measurements were obtained for all children (n = 1,379) who attended Baraa primary school in the Baraa village located at the transition between a rural and urban area in the Arusha region. The data were compared with the world health organization (WHO) 2007 growth reference data for individuals between the ages of 5 to 19. Continuous variables were compared using the t-test, while categorical variables were compared using Pearson’s chi-square test. Spearman’s correlation and χ2 for trend were used to compare the trend of continuous and categorical variables, respectively.
Basic anthropometric values of the study participants were significantly lower than those of the reference population. The mean values of z-scores significantly differed from zero. No gender differences in the prevalence of stunting and thinness were found. Three hundred and twenty-six children (23.7%) suffered from at least one form of undernutrition: 225 (16.3%) were stunted while 156 (11.3%) were thin. The prevalence of both stunting and thinness was at its lowest in the youngest children (5 - 9 years) and highest in the oldest children (14 - 19 years). Furthermore, 54 (16.5%) of the undernourished children suffered from multiple forms of undernutrition.
Undernutrition remains prevalent among primary-school-aged children in the Arusha region, Tanzania. Moreover, a high proportion of children suffer from a combination of different forms of undernutrition, with an increase in the prevalence of undernutrition with age.