Nutritional and Growth Characteristics of Arab Refugee Children in Lebanon

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Abstract
A series of surveys has been conducted since 1959 as part of a continuing assessment of preventive health services provided by United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinean refugee mothers and children in Lebanon. The surveys have focused on nutritional, growth and health characteristics of Arab refugee children below three years of age, considered “well” but living under severe handicaps of overcrowding, ignorance and poverty. Their objective has been to provide fresh guide lines for program emphases. Malnutrition has been the major finding. This is documented not by citing cases of severe deprivation or a high incidence of specific nutritional deficiencies but by careful observations on the frequency of occurrence of less obvious signs of suboptimal nutrition—delayed growth in weight, length and dentition and blood levels low in hemoglobin, plasma, vitamin C, alkaline phosphatase and albumin. Infant feeding practices and intercurrent infections appear to exert the greatest influence on nutritional status. In studying these factors, the importance of age, sex and cultural influences were considered. Results of the surveys are being used to improve effectiveness and efficiency of preventive services. Questions raised by the surveys call for further study.