Status pemakanan dan perkembangan kognitif murid luar bandar

Nutritional status and cognitive development of rural students

Abstract

Kajian ini merupakan kajian awal bertujuan untuk memprofilkan pengambilan tenaga, tabiat pemakanan, status pemakanan dan perkembangan kognitif 46 orang murid kelas pemulihan berumur antara sepuluh dan 12 tahun murid luar bandar di sebuah pulau yang terletak di negeri Sabah. Data antropometri (berat dan tinggi) diukur menggunakan pita dan penimbang berat. Instrumen 24-hour Diet Recall dan perisian NUTRICAL pula digunakan untuk mengumpul maklumat pengambilan tenaga daripada makanan harian berdasarkan Saranan Pengambilan Nutrien (RNI) Malaysia. Penentuan status pemakanan murid pula dibuat berdasarkan klasifikasi National Centre For Health Statistic (NCHS), manakala perkembangan kognitif bukan lisan diukur menggunakan ujian TONI-3. Hasil kajian menunjukkan pengambilan tenaga daripada makanan harian kebanyakan murid yang terlibat berada di bawah paras RNI yang disyorkan dengan hanya segelintir kecil murid mengambil tenaga mencukupi berdasarkan umur dan jantina. Masalah status pemakanan paling serius dalam kalangan murid luar bandar ialah kesusutan dan kerencatan. Murid perempuan didapati mempunyai status pemakanan lebih tinggi berbanding murid lelaki. Sebahagian besar murid mencatat perkembangan kognitif bukan lisan di bawah paras purata.

This study was a preliminary study aimed at profiling the energy intake, dietary habits, nutritional status, and cognitive development of 46 rural students aged between 10 and 12 years who were enrolled in remedial classes on an island in the state of Sabah. Anthropometric data, including body weight and height, were measured using a measuring tape and weighing scale. A 24-hour Diet Recall instrument and NUTRICAL software were used to collect information on daily dietary energy intake based on the Malaysian Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI). The students’ nutritional status was determined based on the classification of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), while non-verbal cognitive development was assessed using the TONI-3 test. The findings indicated that the daily dietary energy intake of most of the participating students was below the recommended RNI level, with only a small proportion of students consuming adequate energy according to their age and gender. The most serious nutritional problems among the rural students were wasting and stunting. Female students were found to have better nutritional status than male students. The majority of the students recorded non-verbal cognitive development levels below the average range.