Nutritional status of high school students in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County

Objective To examine nutrition status among high school students in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, and to provide evidences for improving nutrition status of the students.Methods Height and weight of a total of 2419 high school students were measured in the years from 2007 to 2012 and nutrition status of the students was assessed with standard height and weight for Chinese students.Results Among the students, the overall malnutrition rate was 39.56%; the overweight and obesity rate were 4.34% and 1.57%.There were significant between-year differences in malnutrition rate(χ²=10.82, P<0.01) and the overweight rate(χ²=10.82, P<0.01); while there was no significant between-year difference in the obesity rate(χ²=1.12, P>0.05).The malnutrition rate of the female students was higher than that of male students(46.64% vs.30.99%, χ²=61.42; P<0.01), but both the overweight and obesity rate of the male students(5.58% and 2.38%) were significantly higher than those of the female students(3.34% and 0.91%)(χ²=6.15, P<0.05 and χ²=8.38, P<0.01).Conclusion The malnutrition rate was relative high and the malnutrition status differed by gender among high school students in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County during the years of 2007-2012; specific interventions should be implemented to promote nutrition status of the students.