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Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq

Received: 5 April 2017     Accepted: 13 April 2017     Published: 23 May 2017
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Abstract

Malnutrition is one of the major public health challenges in developing countries especially those experiencing security instability. Not much is known of the nutritional status of displaced children in Iraq. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of internally displaced children in Dream city-Salaheddin-Iraq to provide a validated baseline information for further humanitarian responses to help those children. The “Dream city” in Salaheddin governorate was chosen for it represents a large collection of displaced families. A total of 788 children (less than 5 years) was surveyed. Height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference were measured. Under-nutrition was found in 19.2% of them according to body mass index, and 19.5% when using mid-upper arm circumference index. The prevalence of wasting was 14.6% and severe wasting 6.9%. There was a significant association between under-nutrition and number of the children in the family, age of the child, and father’s and mother’s education. A noticeable percentage of children were hardly consuming meat, eggs or fruits (only once or none per week). About one child in every five displaced children is undernourished. The percentiles of different anthropometric measurements for height, weight, body mass index, and mid upper arm circumference for those children were below the standard measurements reported by WHO and NCHS growth charts for the corresponding age.

Published in Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19
Page(s) 122-130
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Nutrition, Assessment, Children, Internally Displaced, Dream City, Iraq

References
[1] WHO. Physical status: the use and interpretation of anthropometry. Report of a WHO Expert Committee. World Health Orqan Tech Rep Ser 1995; 854: 1-452.
[2] IDMC. Iraq IDP Figures Analysis. http://www.internal-displacement.org/middle-east-and-north-africa/iraq/figures-analysis. Accessed 28 Dec 2016.
[3] Human Rights Watch. Genocide in Iraq. The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds. New York, July 1993.
[4] USAID Iraq Complex Emergency Fact Sheet number 8 Sept 30 2015. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/iraq_ce_fs08_09-30-2015.pdf accessed 25 Dec 2016.
[5] REACH. Multi-Cluster Needs Assessment of internally displaced persons outside of camps. October 2015. http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/reach_irq_multiclusterneedsassessment_idps_outside_camps_oct2014.pdf. Accessed 30 Dec 2016.
[6] Refugees International. Little Aid and Few Options, November 2015. http://static1.squarespace.com/static/506c8ea1e4b01d9450dd53f5/t/5633c6bfe4b03216fd2ea132/1446233807064/Displaced+in+Iraq%3A+Little+Aid+and+Few+Options Accessed 30 Dec 2016.
[7] OCHA. Iraq: Humanitarian Crisis, Situation report No. 62 (16-29 September 2015). https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/system/files/documents/files/ocha_iraq_humanitarian_situation_report_62_16_-_29_september_2015.pdf Accessed 29 Dec 2016.
[8] OCHA. Iraq Humanitarian Needs Overview, 2015. http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/2015_iraq_humanitarian_needs_overview_0.pdf.Accessed 27 Dec 2015.
[9] IOM. Displacement in Iraq reaches nearly 3.2 million. http://iomiraq.net/article/0/displacement-iraq-reaches-nearly-32-million-iom. Accessed 22 Dec 2015.
[10] USAID Iraq Complex Emergency Fact Sheet number 8 Sept 30 2015. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/iraq_ce_fs08_09-30-2015.pdf. Accessed 30 Dec 2016.
[11] Meeting the 2015 international hunger targets: taking stock of uneven progress Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Economic and Social Development Department, May 2015, Retrieved 15 October 2015.
[12] Ziegler J. "Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social And Cultural Rights, Including The Right To Development: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler". Human Rights Council of the United Nations, January 10, 2008.WHO Challenges World Health Org. 2017. http://www.who.int/nutrition/challenges/en/. Accessed 21 Jan 2017.
[13] Shahid Khan. Provision of health assistance to internally displaced persons of South Waziristan Agency in Camps. IJPAMR, 2014; Vol. 2, No 3 August, Website: http://www.rcmss.com.
[14] WHO. Conflict and humanitarian crisis in Iraq public health risk. Assessment and interventions Oct 24 2014. http://who.inc/hac/crises/irq/iraq/phra october.2014.pdf.
[15] WHO. Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Country cooperation strategy for WHO and Iraq 2012 - 2017 / World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean p. WHO-EM/PME/004/E.
[16] WHO. Iraq Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS-4) 2011. Preliminary Report. April 2012.
[17] Mohammadinia N, Sharifi Poor H, Rezaei MA, Heydari khayat N. The Prevalence of Malnutrition among Children under 5 Years old referred to Health Centers in Iranshahr during 2010-2011. JOHE, Autumn 2012; 1.
[18] Chataut J, Khanal K. Assessment of Nutritional Status of Children Under Five years of age in rural Nepal Kathmandu Univ Med J 2016; 53 (1): 73-7.
[19] Ministry of Health Report/ Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Nutritional anthropometric and mortality survey among Internally Displaced Populations in Duhok province - Iraq (Sept - Oct 2014).
[20] Ministry of Health-Nutrition Research Institute United Nation Children Fund’s Rapid Nutritional Assessment for Children (6-59) Months of Age in Syrian Refuge Families in Al-Anbar Governorate/Al Qa’im District 2012.
[21] Ghazi HF, Mustafa J, Aljunid S, Isa Z, Abdalqader MA. Malnutrition among 3 to 5 Years Old Children in Baghdad City, Iraq: A Cross-sectional Study. J HEALTH POPUL NUTR 2013 Sep; 31 (3): 350-55.
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[23] Toole MJ, Malkki RM. Famine-affected refugee and displaced populations: Recommendations for public health issues. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1992; 41: 1-25.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Riyadh Lafta, Hala Al Saraf, Saba Dhiaa, Qudama Ahmed. (2017). Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 5(3), 122-130. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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    ACS Style

    Riyadh Lafta; Hala Al Saraf; Saba Dhiaa; Qudama Ahmed. Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. J. Food Nutr. Sci. 2017, 5(3), 122-130. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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    AMA Style

    Riyadh Lafta, Hala Al Saraf, Saba Dhiaa, Qudama Ahmed. Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq. J Food Nutr Sci. 2017;5(3):122-130. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19,
      author = {Riyadh Lafta and Hala Al Saraf and Saba Dhiaa and Qudama Ahmed},
      title = {Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq},
      journal = {Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {122-130},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20170503.19},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfns.20170503.19},
      abstract = {Malnutrition is one of the major public health challenges in developing countries especially those experiencing security instability. Not much is known of the nutritional status of displaced children in Iraq. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of internally displaced children in Dream city-Salaheddin-Iraq to provide a validated baseline information for further humanitarian responses to help those children. The “Dream city” in Salaheddin governorate was chosen for it represents a large collection of displaced families. A total of 788 children (less than 5 years) was surveyed. Height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference were measured. Under-nutrition was found in 19.2% of them according to body mass index, and 19.5% when using mid-upper arm circumference index. The prevalence of wasting was 14.6% and severe wasting 6.9%. There was a significant association between under-nutrition and number of the children in the family, age of the child, and father’s and mother’s education. A noticeable percentage of children were hardly consuming meat, eggs or fruits (only once or none per week). About one child in every five displaced children is undernourished. The percentiles of different anthropometric measurements for height, weight, body mass index, and mid upper arm circumference for those children were below the standard measurements reported by WHO and NCHS growth charts for the corresponding age.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Nutritional Status Assessment of Internally Displaced Children in “Dream City”- Iraq
    AU  - Riyadh Lafta
    AU  - Hala Al Saraf
    AU  - Saba Dhiaa
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    AB  - Malnutrition is one of the major public health challenges in developing countries especially those experiencing security instability. Not much is known of the nutritional status of displaced children in Iraq. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of internally displaced children in Dream city-Salaheddin-Iraq to provide a validated baseline information for further humanitarian responses to help those children. The “Dream city” in Salaheddin governorate was chosen for it represents a large collection of displaced families. A total of 788 children (less than 5 years) was surveyed. Height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference were measured. Under-nutrition was found in 19.2% of them according to body mass index, and 19.5% when using mid-upper arm circumference index. The prevalence of wasting was 14.6% and severe wasting 6.9%. There was a significant association between under-nutrition and number of the children in the family, age of the child, and father’s and mother’s education. A noticeable percentage of children were hardly consuming meat, eggs or fruits (only once or none per week). About one child in every five displaced children is undernourished. The percentiles of different anthropometric measurements for height, weight, body mass index, and mid upper arm circumference for those children were below the standard measurements reported by WHO and NCHS growth charts for the corresponding age.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Family and Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq

  • Iraq Health Access Organization, Baghdad, Iraq

  • College of Health & Medical Technologies, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq

  • Salaheddin Health Directorate, Baghdad, Iraq

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