[Assessment of the nutritional status of school children in Cádiz].

Background: Nutritional conditions of a population constitute an important health indicator. Children and adolescents are considered to be at high risk of suffering excess of defect nutritional problems; however, preventive action is easier in this group. For this reason, we decided to carry out a valuation of nutritional status in a school children population of a marginal area in Cádiz Province.

Methods: Students, registered in the second level of Primary School of the only public school in the area, were studied. They were directly examined on their nutritional condition by clinical, anthropometrical and biochemical study. In the same way, a valuation of the population socio-economical status was carried out, according to GRAFFAR criteria. The information obtained was tabulated and analyzed using the computerized programme EPINFO. Results were compared with the OMS Standard International and with the Ruiz's study, carried out in the same province.

Results: Both: body weigh/age and Quetelex indexes shown lower values than the standard and than Ruiz's study, specially in the groups of higher age (except for boys of 15 years old). This was also shown for the arm perimeter. Nevertheless, in the tricipital skin fold, values were higher than the standard in the ages of 12 and 13 years; but lower than the Ruiz ones in some ages.

Conclusions: The results obtained might suggest the existence of an unbalanced and/or poor diet among school children; this fact could be verified carrying out a complete dietetic assessment of this collective.