EVALUATION OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF CHILDREN IN NURSERY SCHOOLS IN KISANGANI CITY, DR CONGO

Joseph – Désiré Oleko Wa Oleko, Joseph Mbandisha Tshibanda, Richard Tongo Ngbanda and Puis T. Mpiana*

ABSTRACT

Malnutrition is a public health problem in developing countries. In DR Congo no food is provide at nursery schools. So it is necessary to evaluate the nutritional status of children under five years old in pre-schools. In this study, the nutritional status of children attending nursery schools in the city of Kisangani, specifically those of the communes of Makiso, Mangobo, Tshopo and Kabondo is evaluated. It is a descriptive cross-sectional study of 400 target children in kindergartens. Anthropometric data was collected. They were weight-for-height, height-for-age, weight-for-age indices. These data have been processed and analyzed by WHO Anthro® software. The results showed that 4.0% of children were emaciated, 27.6% were stunted and 10.6% were underweight. In contrast, 2.4% of children were overweight (obesity). The distribution curves of the children compared to the reference curves are shifted slightly to the right for W/A, S/A, W/S slightly suggest a tendency to a state of under-nutrition and over-nutrition.

Keywords: Nutritional status, emanciation, stunting, underweight, Kisangani, DR Congo.