Nutritional Status of Working Children as a Neglected Group in Kermanshah

Introduction: working at an early age can have adverse consequences on health. working children due to their occupational hazards are at risk of communicable and non-communicable diseases such as malnutrition, anemia and growth retardation. this study aimed to determine the nutritional status and prevalence of anemia in working and non-working children. material and methods: this case-control study was carried out as cross-sectional, on 90 working and 90 nonworking 8-18 year-old boys in kermanshah. the data gathering tools were demographic and food frequency questionnaires (ffq). anthropometric parameters were measured using standard tools. 5 ml blood for blood biomarkers test was collected from the participants. results: average height and weight of the working children were respectively 3.7 cm and 5.7 kg less than of those of the non-working children (p = 0.02). prevalence of iron deficiency in working children was more than double in non-working children (28% vs 11.3%, p = 0.01). hemoglobin concentration in working children was significantly less than that in non-working children (p=0.05). except for bread and cereals, the working children’s consumption of all food groups was significantly less than that of non-working children (p <0.001). conclusion: working children are at the risk of developing anemia and malnutrition so they need emergency nutritional supports.