The Relationship Between Nutritional Status and Anthropometric Indices Among 2-5-Year Old Children in Tehran

Background: malnutrition in children including lower nutrient intakes or high density food intakes is of recent world concerns; therefore, determining a simple index that reveals the diet adequacy might be an advantage. methods: this cross-sectional study was done among 233 children aged 2-5 years old. a 24-hour dietary questionnaire was used to calculate mean adequacy ratio (mar), naturally nutrient rich (nnr) and energy density (ed) via related formula. results: a significant negative trend was observed for the relationship between the mar and the z-score of height for age. significant positive relations were observed between the z-score of body mass index (bmi) for age and the z-score of weight for height as well as the z-score of weight for age and the z-score of height for age. in contrast, a significant negative correlation was between the energy density and mar (all p < 0.05). conclusion: according to the z-score based on the nnr, mar and ed, these three indices might be widely used to determine the adequacy of food intakes especially among children.