Height, weight and BMI percentiles and nutritional status relative to the international growth references among Pakistani school-aged children

Table 9 Prevalence of under-nutrition relative to the international growth references among Pakistani primary school children aged five to twelve years

Reference	Stunting < -2 SD height-for-age z score		Underweight < -2 SD weight-for-age z score		Thinness/Wasting < -2 SD BMI-for-age z score
	n (%)	P value^a	n (%)	P value^a	n (%)	P value^a
Boys (n = 977)
WHO 2007	84 (8.6)	0.146	69 (7.1)^b	< 0.001	99 (10.1)	< 0.001
USCDC 2000	90 (9.2)		126 (12.9)		125 (12.8)
IOTF^c	-		-		36 (3.7)^d	< 0.001^g
					45 (4.6)^e	< 0.001^h
					180 (18.4)^f
Girls (n = 883)
WHO 2007	68 (7.7)	0.774	56 (6.3)ⁱ	< 0.001	89 (10.1)	< 0.001
USCDC 2000	70 (7.9)		104 (11.8)		119 (13.5)
IOTF^c	-		-		31 (3.5)^d	< 0.001^g
					70 (7.9)^e	0.003^h
					166 (18.8)^f
Total (n = 1860)
WHO 2007	152 (8.2)	0.169	125 (6.7)^j	< 0.001	188 (10.1)	< 0.001
USCDC 2000	160 (8.6)		230 (12.4)		244 (13.1)
IOTF^c	-		-		67 (3.6)^d	< 0.001^g
					115 (6.2)^e	< 0.001^h
					346 (18.6)^f

^a P values are for difference between the estimates by the WHO 2007 and USCDC 2000 references obtained by the McNemar test
^b n = 747 (boys aged five to ten years) for underweight prevalence with the WHO 2007 reference
^c IOTF estimates are based on cut-offs corresponding to the respective BMI cut-off value at age 18 years and above
^d Thinness grade three,^e Thinness grade two, and^f Thinness grade one
^g grade one thinness compared to the WHO 2007 reference,^h grade one thinness compared to the USCDC 2000 reference
ⁱ n = 699 (girls aged five to ten years), and^j n = 1446 (children aged five to ten years) for underweight prevalence with the WHO 2007 reference

ISSN: 1471-2431