Nutritional status of school children aged 6-10 years in United Arab Emirates: Comparison with children from different ethnic origins

A field survey was conducted to study the nutritional status of UAE children in selected Emirates in United Arab Emirates (UAE) as compared to others of different ethnic groups and from different countries. Anthropometric data (weight and height) were collected on 1447 children aged 6-10 years from the UAE National population and from Egyptian, Jordanian, Sudanese, and Omani children living in the same country. The indices studied were weight for age, height for age, and weight for height. The cut-off points used to indicate mild and moderate malnutrition were taken as values below -1 SD and -2 SD respectively of a reference population. The United States National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) standards were used. Results showed that children of UAE Nationals suffered from both stunting and wasting in the four Emirates studied with the highest prevalence in the Emirate of Ajman. Comparisons of anthropometric data for UAE children with those from other nationalities living in UAE, showed that ethnic origin affected the centile and Z-score distribution of anthropometric indices. A higher percentage of Omani and UAE Nationals fell in the lower centile and Z-score ranges as compared to children from other ethnic backgrounds. Within the UAE the observed overall levels of malnutrition could be attributed to noneconomic socio-cultural factors which may also constitute important determinants explaining the differences in nutritional status between UAE Nationals and the other ethnic groups studied. Further studies are needed in order to identify the underlying nutritional and health factors which led to the observed pattern of growth.