Growth and development changes of nutrition improvement program for students from 2012-2016 in Henan Province

Objective To understand the changes of students' growth and development in poor rural areas since the implementation of nutrition improvement program,and to evaluate the effect of nutrition improvement program.Methods The nutritional status monitoring was carried out in 10%-30% of primary and junior middle schools which implemented nutrition improvement program in 26 pilot counties of Henan Province.The results of monitoring in 2012 and 2016 were analyzed.Results The height and weight of students in area of nutrition improvement program in 2012 were lower than the average level of students in rural areas of Henan Province in 2010.Since the implementation of the nutrition improvement program from 2012 to 2016,the average height of boys in poor rural areas had increased by 2.27 cm,with an average weight gain of 1.95 kg.The average height of girls had increased by 2.05 cm and the average weight increased by 1.75 kg.Some students' height and weight in nutrition improvement program area in 2016 had caught up with and even surpassed students' average level in the same sex and same age groups in Henan rural areas in 2014.The average annual growth rates of the height of students aged 7-16 and the weight of students aged 7-13 in poor rural area during 4-year nutrition improvement program were higher than those of rural students in Henan during 2010 to 2014.Conclusion The nutrition improvement program for students has effectively improved the growth and development level of students in poor rural areas.