Concurrent stunting with overweight and associated with social characteristics in high school students from EslamAbad-e Gharb city, Iran

Introduction: Concurrent stunting with overweight is one of the consequences of nutritional transition, which has worsened the outcomes more than overweight itself. The aim of this study was to determine the trend of anthropometric indices in primary to high school students in EslamAbad-e Gharb city, Iran. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed in EslamAbad-e Gharb in 2017. The necessary data was collected through high schools’ student’s records in elementary schools. Then, all of the data were analyzed in Anthroplus and SPSS software. Prevalence of concurrent stunting with overweight was calculated based on the two references using the CDC cutoffs (BMI-for-age or height for age above +1 standard deviation score and -1 and less, respectively). Results: Of the 731 students, 350 (47.1) were female and 381(52.1) were male. Prevalence of stunting-cum-overweight by WHO cut off in the elementary and high schools was 0.55% and 3.8% respectively (p=0.100). Girls (P= 0.001) were affected more by the increased trend of stunting-cum-overweight compared to the boys (P= 0.506). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the trend of stunting-cum-overweight is high among primary to high school students in EslamAbad-e Gharb. It is suggested that future studies on the prevalence, causes, and interventions for the prevention and treatment of this problem should be conducted.

Keywords:

Overweight , Prevalence , Students , Stunting , stunting-cum-overweight