Background: Malnutrition poses a significant threat to children's health and remains the leading cause of childhood mortality in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region. This study aims to assess the prevalence of malnutrition and identify its associated risk factors among primary school children in Iran.
Materials and Methods: In this systematic review, a systematic search of online databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CIVILICA, SID, and Google Scholar) was conducted for related studies with no time limit up to June 2022. Two reviewers evaluated the quality of eligible studies and carried out the selection procedure.
Results: Twelve related studies were selected. The prevalence of malnutrition based on weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height was 24.9% (underweight, 3.2-46.6%), 19.9% (stunting, 3-36.9%), and 28.5% (wasting, 3.7-53.3%), respectively. Logistic regression analyses showed that the risk of malnutrition in rural areas was 1.34 times that of urban areas, in girls 1.17 times that of boys, in the Sistani ethnic group 1.82 times that of the Fars ethnic group, and in low-income families 2.01 times that of high-income families. Thinness was significantly higher in public schools than in private schools. A statistically significant relationship was observed between the consumption of snacks and wasting in schoolchildren. Birth weight, parental education, father’s height, father’s job, family income, and maternal age were significant contributing factors to malnutrition in schoolchildren (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The prevalence of malnutrition among Iranian schoolchildren in Sistan and Balochistan, Kerman, and Kurdistan provinces was relatively high in terms of wasting, stunting, and being underweight. The risk of malnutrition was higher in rural areas, girls from the Sistani ethnic group, and low-income families.