Evalution on height and weight among left-behind children aged 5 years in rural areas in Hebei province

ObjectiveTo evalute the situation of height and weight among the rural left-behind children (LBC) aged ≤ 5 years in Hebei province and to provide evidences for promoting health status of the children.MethodsData on height and weight of the rural children aged ≤ 5 years in Hebei province were extracted from the database of 5th National Health Services Survey during September and October 2013.The height and weight of the LBC and non-LBC were evaluated with height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and compared.ResultsThe study included 270 LBC;the average age of the LBC was 2.67 years and the male to female ratio for the LBC was 1.16:1.Of the LBC,198 (73.33%) had fathers who left home for work and 184 (68.15%) were cared by their mothers at home.The HAZ and WAZ of the LBC were-3.71 and -1.07 and both the scores were lower than those of the non-LBC(0.14 and 2.25),with significant differences (t_HAZ=19.21,P_HAZ=0.000;t_WAZ=8.96,P_WAZ=0.000).The ratio of growth retardation and underweight were 78.15% and 53.33% among the LBC,respectively,which were significantly higher than those of the non-LBC (18.88% and 9.04%)(χ_height²=374.90,P_height=0.000;χ_weight²=262.01,P_weight=0.000).Further stratification analysis demonstrated that the differences in HAZ,WAZ,retardation,and underweight between LBC and non-LBC were independent of gender and age of the children (P<0.05 for all).ConclusionGrowth retardation and underweight are prevalent among rural LBC less than 5 years old in Hebei province and specific concerns should be paid to the situation.