The nutritional status of Maltese pre-school children.

Abstract

The nutritional status of 800 Maltese pre-school children, aged 4 to 5, attending sate's kindergarten classes, was evaluated. The methods of nutritional surveillance use were : an anthropomorphic survey and two dietary surveys, which were conducted over two years. Anthropomorphic results revealed that 15.52% of pre-schoolers are malnourished, that is 8.88% are overweight, 0.88% and 4.63% have chronic and acute malnutrition respectively, whilst 1.13% were found to be underweight. The dietary surveys indicated that pre-schoolers are consuming diets rich in : animal protein foods, saturated fats and salty and sugary foods. Yet it is low in complex carbohydrates and is therefore probably low in vital minerals and vitamins. It was also revealed that certain eating patterns, like skipping breakfast, are already rooted in our young generation. Such a diet tallies very much with the unhealthy western diet, that health experts are suggesting improvements on. Such findings indicate the immediate need for nutrition education intervention at a very young age, possibly the pre-school age, which can be transmitted in different ways as suggested in the study.