[Prevalence of height-weight deficit in Tunisian boys of the Northern and Southern regions]

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition is owing to an alimentation regarding quantity and quality food. aim: To examine the different forms of malnutrition among Tunisian boys of the north and south regions, to form an idea about the state of their health and their living conditions.

Methods: Our empirical investigation was carried out on 1082 northern boys and 1016 southern boys, aged from 10 to 14 years including 1057 non pubescent boys and 1041 prepubescent boys. Age, weight and height were recorded for the entire population according to the norms of the standard World Health Organization and the nutritional status of these young was described by two indices: Height for age and body mass index for age. The classification used to describe the build is the Cachera Rolland,

Results: Malnutrition are significantly more pronounced among the southern boys than their counterparts in the North. Particularly, short stature (19.2% vs 14.4%) and underweight (28% vs 22.5 %). However, the risk of overweight and obesity is more pronounced among the northern boys. However, the comparison between non pubescent and prepubescent boys shows that the prevalence of stunting increases with age.

Conclusion: The mechanisms responsible for these inter-individual differences beings regions appear related to living conditions during the first year after birth, particularly, socio-economic status, family size, type of housing, and the education level of parents.