Introduction
Orphanages are a vulnerable group in any socio-economic setting simply because they are deprived of one or both of their primary care givers. The level of vulnerability they face however increases significantly with the level of poverty. The practice of placing deprived children having minimum or no emotional and material resources, in orphanages has since long been prevailing in socio-economically poor Asian countries.
Aims
To assess the nutritional status of children residing at an orphanage.
Methodology
A cross section study was conducted with 75 children with pre structured questionnaire including clinical examination and biometric assessment.
Result
Mean age of children residing at orphanage was 11.2 3.1 years, while 58.7 percentage children were male. The malnutrition was graded by calculating Z score for BMI-Age. It was found that no children having severe malnutrition, but 5.3 percent children were diagnosed as moderate and 18.7 percent children were diagnosed as mild. Children were mainly seems to be deprived socially, rather than physically. Apart from, these children have scabies 12% and Hook worm infestation 5%, anemia about 8% and refractory error 3%.
Discussion
A study conducted by Sadik (2010) shows low intake of both micro and macro nutrients except protein by orphanage children in Ghana. Nutritional status indicated that 10% and 15% of the children were severely stunted and wasted respectively. Similar findings were reported by Bhuvanesh Shukla et al (2011), Dr Naheed Vaida (2013).
Conclusion
About 24 percentage of children residing at orphanage have mild or moderate malnutrition, even though none of them are severely malnourished based on BMI.