Nutritional status of 8- to 12-year-old children with height below or at 25th percentile associated with height in the Seoul metropolitan area.

BACKGROUND

Childhood is the best time to establish healthful dietary habits through adulthood. However, as of yet, there is relatively little research on the nutritional status of children with low height. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional status of school-aged children with low height.

METHODS

This study was implemented in the Seoul metropolitan area with 8- to 12-year-old Korean children (n = 93) who fall below the 25th percentile (<= P25) for height. Nutritional status was assessed using anthropometry and dietary assessment. Dietary assessment was carried out using a 24-hour recall on a typical and quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The Pearson' s correlation analysis was conducted to determine associations between height and nutrient intake.

RESULTS

The mean percentiles of height were 19.5(th) for boys, and 19.0(th) for girls, respectively. Nutrients ingested below the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) of the Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRIs), considered inadequate, were folic acid, calcium, vitamin C, and iron. Significant differences between recommended and consumed servings of food groups were observed in the meat, fish, egg, and legume group (p = 0.039), vegetable group (p < 0.001), and fruit group (p = 0.044). The height percentiles of the subjects were negatively correlated with calories derived from carbohydrates (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

School-aged children living in the Seoul metropolitan area, with height <= P25, consumed inadequate nutrients and insufficient food groups, which may put the children in a low height percentile. More efforts to provide education on adequate dietary intake and to monitor the nutritional status of children are needed to improve dietary adequacy based on food groups and to increase the growth of children with low height.