the comparison of height for age index with normal distribution in eslamabade-gharb students (2007-8)

abstract   background:  monitoring height for age is very important indicator in children and teenagers periods. unfortunately in screening for students’ nutritional problems, only students with height below 3rd percentile of health road (height, weight or bmi charts) are reported and plotted in national growth charts, whereas attention to total normal distribution of student growth and comparison with it is more important. the aim of this study was to compare national students’ height for age distribution charts with normal distribution. methods: in this cross-sectional study 7940 male and female students of islam abad-e-gharb were studied during nutritional school screening from 2007 to2008. the distribution of this index compared with standard normal distribution using chi square goodness of fit test. results: there was a significant difference (p<0.05) between height tow age and standard normal distribution a mong the students. besides, 61.1 percent of students fall under 50th percentiles. conclusion: the number of well-nourished students in eslamabade-gharb was less than what was expected. thus, paying attention to the malnourished students for prevention of shortness seems to be necessary.