Introduction: To identify early changes in growth and ensuring proper continued development of children, evaluation of development and improvement of children’s health is very importance. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of stunting in first-grade students and its association to parental education, socioeconomic status and household size in Hamadan.
Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, a number of 32 elementary schools were considered by cluster sampling method, in 2012. Required data was collected through 1257 first-grade students’ records in elementary schools. One way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation test and logistic regression were performed to analyze data using SPSS software version 16.
Results: The stunting prevalence was found 6 percent in Hamadan. Also, the results of this study didn’t show any significant association between father’s and mother’s occupation and household size with stunting in first-grade students (P<0.05). A significant association between education level of father and first-grade students’ stunting was seen (P=0.002, r=0.308). Moreover, significant correlation was recognized between education level of mother and stunting in children (P=0.001, r=0.388). Logistic regression represented an adjusted significant association between age and parental education level and stunting prevalence (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that parental education level is highly associated with stunting in the first-grade students. In this regard, it is suggested that mass media, healthcare and educational centers personnel have interventions to increase awareness of parents.
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