Nutritional status of primary school children: a comparative rural & urban study 1976
Rampal, L.
Medical Journal of Malaysia 32(1): 6-16
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0300-5283 PMID: 609347 Document Number: 121984
Study in 1976 was of 3107 rural and 2253 urban schoolchildren. They were from 2 urban primary schools in Kuala Lumpur using English as the teaching medium, in which the children were mostly from families with high income, and from 17 rural schools in Klang District using Malay, Chinese or Tamil as the medium for children of low or middle income families. Among urban boys the Chinese were heaviest and tallest and the Malays least so. The same was true for girls except that there was little difference between Chinese and Indians. Among rural boys the Malays were heaviest and the Indians lightest, with little difference between Chinese and Malays; Chinese were the tallest and Indians the shortest, with little difference between Indians and Malays. Among rural girls Malays were the heaviest, Malays and Chinese the tallest, with little difference between Malays and Chinese; Indians were shortest and lightest. Weight of rural girls and boys was between 60% and 80% of the Nelson standard, otherwise height and weight were between 80% and the standard. In general, urban Malays and rural Indians had the least satisfactory growth. Incidence of wasting, indicating present malnutrition, and of stunting, indicating chronic or previous malnutrition, were highest among rural Indian boys and girls. There was no kwashiorkor and the incidence of marasmus was highest in rural children, among Indian boys 6 to 19% and girls 5 to 37%, Malay boys 3 to 11% and girls 1 to 6%, Chinese boys 1 to 3.8% and girls 1.4 to 12%, the range between the 6 years from 7 to 12 years old. Poor growth in rural areas was attributed to low income and poor nutrition. Differences between races were probably socioeconomic rather than genetic.