Asia Pacific Journal of Pediatric and Child Health

Abstract Ref Number = APCP1145

Poster Presentation

MALNUTRITION AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT, IS IT RELATED

Wanda Gautami,Yohanes Triatmanto Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia

Background : Overnutrition in childhood can lead to diet-related non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease in later life. The prevalence of childhood obesity in Indonesia has increased significantly in recent years, thus becoming one of the double burden of malnutrition in Indonesia according to WHO. This study aimed to a) determine the prevalence of malnutrition (undernutrition, overweight and obesity) in one of the international primary school children aged 6-12 years in Jakarta, and b) examine the association between malnutrition and visual impairment. Material : This is a cross-sectional study with a total population sampling on the entire population of students in Jakarta Taipei Primary School on April 2018. Their nutrition status was measured using CDC 2000 growth chart and their visual acuity measured using Snellen Projector Chart. Obese is defined by weight morethan 120% ideal weight, and/or BMI-for-age morethan 95th percentile, whereas overweight is defined by having weight 110-120% ideal weight and BMI-for-age ? 85th percentile. Undernutrition is defined by having weight lessthan 90% ideal weight. Visual impairment is defined by having vision of 6/9 or 20/30 and below. Results : Among 316 students (median age 9 years), there are 141 (44.6%) children with malnutrition, consists of 61 (19.3%) obesity, 38 (12.0%) overweight, and 42 (13.3%) undernutrition. Males are more prevalent in obese and overweight population with ratio of 2.6 and 1.4 respectively. On the contrary, females are more prevalent in undernutrition (ratio 3.7) and normal population (ratio 1.5). There are 162 (51.3%) children with visual impairment, with male: female ratio of 0.88. Significant difference was obtained between malnutrition and visual impairment (p = 0.001). Conclusions : The study demonstrated that there is a high number of malnutrition, whether it is overnutrition or undernutrition, and also visual impairment in school-aged children in Indonesia. Moreover, a strong association between malnutrition and visual impairment is observed in this study.

Keywords: Malnutrition Obesity Visual Impairment