Nutritional status of students aged 11-14 years at six lower secondary schools in Nha Be district, Ho Chi Minh city in 2024

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status of students aged 11-14 years at six lower secondary schools in Nha Be district, Ho Chi Minh city, in 2024 (before the administrative merger). Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among students aged 11-14 years. Anthropometric measurements were performed to evaluate the nutritional status of children based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2007 growth reference Z-scores for children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. Results: The prevalence of stunting was low at 1.84%, with severe stunting accounting for only 0.21%. Wasting was also rare, with an overall prevalence of 2.2%. In contrast, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was high, at 45.7 and 22.2%, respectively. The prevalence of overweight was similar in boys (41.6%) and girls (41.4%). However, the prevalence of obesity in boys (28.3%) was more than twice that in girls (13.5%) (p<0.05). The heightfor-age Z-score distribution demonstrated a rightward shift, although the peak remained lower than the WHO growth reference, particularly among male students. In contrast, the BMI-for-age Z-score distribution showed a pronounced rightward shift for both boys and girls, with values exceeding the WHO reference.