Evaluation of Childhood Dietary Patterns and Their Impact on Nutrition Status: A Literature Review

Abstract

One of the main public health issues in underdeveloped nations like Nepal is malnutrition, which is closely related to dietary practices. Child malnutrition has been one of the major public health issues of the twenty-first century in the world. A search of some electronic databases was conducted to identify research involving nutritional status of children. A total 19 studies were identified in this review. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status and dietary pattern of children and its related factors. The study was conducted based on literature review. The search of literature from scholar.google.com, pubmed.com, jstor.com, nepjol.info, tucl.remotexs.co (proquest.com search.ndltd.org) were used for the study. A total of 140 full-text papers were identified from electronic sources. Among 140 full-text papers, irrelevant papers were excluded. Only English medium literature about dietary patterns and nutritional status of children were included in this study. Sixteen studies were related to nutritional status of children and three studies were related to dietary pattern of children. The results of study showed low nutritional status of children of different countries. The result of the study showed that different behaviors related to eating habits promote the nutritional status of children. Dietary behavior strongly correlates nutritional status of children. Similarly, children are facing numerous nutritional problems due to the lack of exclusive breast feeding, maternal education, disease prevalence and low socio-economic condition. Especially the children are suffered from the problem of stunting and wasting in rural area. Most of the studies have been centered in an urban area. The study suggested to conduct appropriate nutritional intervention programs regarding school children and their mothers.