Assessment of Health and Nutritional Status in Children Based on School Screening Programs

Background: even though the screening programs of common morbidities in schoolchildren are routine in many countries, a large number of patients with different problems may be found at school age. objectives: the current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of nutritional problems such as stunting, underweight and wasting as well as dental caries and hypertension among schoolchildren. materials and methods: this cross-sectional study of student’s health status assessment was conducted on primary, middle, and high school students of sarvabad, a city in the west of iran, in 2012. nutritional status was determined by using body mass index for age and gender according to the world health organization references. results: out of 2596 children, 1113 (42.9%) and 1483 (57.1%) were girls and boys, respectively. the prevalence of caries was 62.8% (95% ci: 60.9, 64.6) with a decayed, missing and filled tooth (dmft) mean of 0.74 (95% ci: 0.71, 0.76). totally, 16.41% of the study samples had gingivitis. the prevalence of wasting, underweight, and stunting among schoolchildren was 3.1%, 9.48% and 2.85%, respectively. hypertension was detected in 5.55% (95% ci: 4.67, 6.43). the prevalence of caries, gingivitis, and hypertension was more common in boys than in girls. conclusions: although the high prevalence of health disorders was found among schoolchildren, these rates were lower than those of previous studies in other regions. results of the current study can help health policy makers to design educational programs concerning dental and public health interventions to deal with nutritional problems in children.