Vol. 1, Issue 2, Part A (2019)

Introduction: Childhood period is the crucial time for overall growth and development in various aspects of life and personality. Nutrition and living arrangement are essential factors which influence overall health status of the children. But the homeless and parentless children are deprived of their childhood rights. Objective:To assess the nutritional status of children living in orphanage homes in Kathmandu district (Province 3), Nepal. Methodology:An institution based cross sectional study was conducted among 111 orphan children aged 5-17 years. A complete enumerative sampling was used. Under nutrition was assessed using anthropometric measurements to calculate percentile score for children and dietary diversity assessment was done using 24-hour dietary recall measurement. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaire. SPSS version 20, MS-Excel and CDC references was used to entry and analyse data. Results:The study indicated that majority (72.1%) had normal weight, 14.4% of the respondent were underweight, 10.8% were overweight and 2.7% were obese. Less than half (40.5%) of the respondent had normal nutritional status, one third (33.3%), almost one forth (24.3%) and least (1.8%) had 1^st, 2^ndand 3^rd degree malnutrition respectively. All most all (100%) respondent ate starchy staple and legume, nuts and seeds, least (9%) of the total respondents ate eggs in a day. But intake of other vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables and organ meat and fish are rare. More than half (62.2%) of total respondents had medium dietary diversity, more than one third (37.8%) respondents had lowest dietary diversity. All most all (100%) house hold presented highest dietary diversity. Conclusion: Present study shows that the prevalence of undernutrition (underweight, overweight, obesity and malnutrition) is still major health problem among underprivileged population like orphans. The nutritional status of vulnerable population comprising of children has been recognized as an important indicator of national development which in turn depends upon social development indices.