Physical growth and nutritional status of Jordanian preschool-aged children.

AIM: The purpose of the present paper was to examine the growth pattern and nutritional status of Jordanian preschool children and to compare it with the growth reference charts developed by the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC/WHO). METHODS: One thousand six hundred ninety-five healthy urban and semi-urban preschool children between 3 and 6 years of age were measured during this study. Children were divided into sex groups. Standardized methods were used to measure weight; height; and mid upper arm circumference for all children. Height for age, weight for age, and weight for height z-scores and percentiles as well as the mid upper arm circumference for height z-scores were calculated using the anthropometric standards developed by (CDC/WHO). RESULTS: The results of weight for height z-score revealed that 2.0% of boys and 0.5% of girls were below the cut-off point of -3 SD which denotes sever under-nourishment and sever wasting. Furthermore, about 7.4% of boys and 5.2% of girls fell in the group of (-3 SD to <-2 SD) which means under-nourishment and wasting. CONCLUSION: The majority of Jordanian children aged 3-6 years were within the 5-95th percentile range for height for age percentile (HAP), weight for age percentile (WAP), and weight for height percentile (WHP) (74.7%, 71.9%, and 63.8% respectively for boys) while were (67.5%, 69.4%, and 64.2% respectively for girls).