Nutrition Check: Factors Affecting the Nutritional Status of Kinder to Grade Six Pupils of Natunuan North Elementary School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Child's physical, emotional, and cognitive development depends on the nutritional status that a child possesses. The nutrition of young children can be considered as a vital part of development since this is where the eating habits begin to form. Moreover, nutrition is one of the powerful factors that influence a child's health and performance in school. There are so many programs that schools are implementing in order to guide and ensure that the pupils will stay healthy. One of these programs is the School-based Feeding Program and Supplementary Feeding wherein the school provides nutritious food for the pupils with below normal weight and continuously monitors their nutritional status.

METHODS

Research Method

The researchers use the internet to search for journals and thesis which may contain information, data, ideas, and concepts that are relevant to this study. The researchers also ask the permission of the principal to obtain the list of enrollees in this school year 2016-2017 and the nutritional status of the students from Kinder to Grade Six.

The researchers evaluate aspects all over nutrition by using the main three methods.

1. Nutritional history
2. Appropriate physical examination with simple anthropometric measurements.
3. Laboratory Investigation

RESULTS

Nutritional status of children seemed to be a predisposing factor to the same problem in their children indicating the family's influence in creating habits and lifestyles in their children, inclusive of their eating habits and physical activity.

DISCUSSIONS

It can be gleaned in the table that last year June 2016 out of 289 pupils, 8pupils were under severely wasted, 27 wasted, 220 normal, 7 overweight, and 7 obese but as of January 2017 out of 289 pupils, 5 are severely wasted, 18 wasted, 252 normal and 13 above normal and 5 obese. The record shows that there is a gradual decrease in the number of below normal status as compared to the first weighing in June 2016 and January 2017 who were recipients of the School-based Feeding Program and the 35% of the Canteen share for the Supplementary Feeding.