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LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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Year : 2019 | Volume
: 32
| Issue : 4 | Page : 1512 |
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Prevalence of stunted growth in children under 5 years of age in Qalyubia Governorate
Mahmood D Al-Mendalawi
Department of Paediatrics, Al-Kindy College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Date of Submission | 01-Jun-2018 |
Date of Decision | 19-Jun-2018 |
Date of Acceptance | 24-Jul-2018 |
Date of Web Publication | 31-Dec-2019 |
Correspondence Address: Mahmood D Al-Mendalawi Department of Paediatrics, Al-Kindy College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad Post Office, P.O. Box 55302, Baghdad Iraq
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/mmj.mmj_194_18
How to cite this article: Al-Mendalawi MD. Prevalence of stunted growth in children under 5 years of age in Qalyubia Governorate. Menoufia Med J 2019;32:1512 |
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I read with interest the study by Farahat et al. [1] on the prevalence of stunted growth in children less than 5-year old attending a primary healthcare in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt. The authors found that the prevalence of stunted growth was 13.32% and it was significantly associated with the age of children (stunting was more in children aged < 24 months) (P = 0.005), socioeconomic level (P = 0.004), family history of short stature (P < 0.05), family size of more than five (P = 0.004), and low hemoglobin level (P < 0.001) [1]. I presume that these results ought to be cautiously taken owing to the presence of the following methodological limitation. It is obvious that in the clinical field, there are many growth charts used to measure anthropometric parameters in children. These include WHO charts, Center for Disease Control charts, and country-specific charts. Comparing the use of other charts to the use of the country-specific growth charts suggested that the latter might describe the growth of children more precisely [2],[3]. Supporting that notion, it has been found that there was significant differences between sexes regarding the growth of children on using Egyptian growth charts compared with Center for Disease Control charts [4]. It is good to know that Farahat et al. [1] used the National Egyptian Growth Chart 2002 to estimate the growth of the studied pediatric cohort. However, it is worth mentioning that Egyptian Growth Charts 2002 used by Farahat et al. [1] was constructed more than a decade ago and it is not more precise in the clinical field and researches. It would be prudent to construct new Egyptian charts. I presume that if such charts have been constructed and used, the results of the study might be altered.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References | | |
1. | Farahat TM, Ragab S, Salama AA, Abdel El Halim HN. Prevalence of stunted growth in children less than 5-year old in Qualyoubia governorate. Menoufia Med J 2017; 30:1089–1092. |
2. | Ziegler EE, Nelson SE. The WHO growth standards: strengths and limitations. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2012; 15:298–302. |
3. | Natale V, Rajagopalan A. Worldwide variation in human growth and the World Health Organization growth standards: a systematic review. BMJ Open 2014; 4:e003735. |
4. | Mohammad HA, Ahmed ES, GadAllah MA, Monazea EM. Underweight and short stature among Upper Egypt school children using national and international growth charts. IOSR J Nurs Health Sci 2016; 5:87–92. |
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