A survey was carried out in a rural area in Thailand as a part of the study on the physical development and nutritional status of children of developing countries in Asia. Four hundred and sixty-three school children of both sexes, from 6 to 14 years of age, had anthropometric measurements and examinations of clinical signs related to nutritional deficiencies. Blood, urine and feces were also exaimined.
1) Thai children were remarkably smaller than Japanese and growth retardation was observed at 21.4% and 37.3% of those in age groups 6-9 and 10-14 years, respectively. And judging from the weight-for-height, about one-fourth of them were considered malnourished in varying degrees
2) Upper arm muscle circumference, calculated with upper arm circumference and subcutaneous skinfold of the same place, revealed that the development of muscle was obviously retarded.
3) Signs of hypovitaminoses such as xerosis of the skin, decreased patellar reflex, cheilosis, angular lesion were frequently observed.
4) Mean values of hemoglobin and serum iron concentrations were low in general and about 20% of the children were judged anemic according to the WHO criteria for nutritional anemias. Cholesterol values were also lower than those of Japanese and American children
5) The overall positive rate of intestinal parasites' eggs was 43.2% and hookworm eggs were most frequently observed, follwed by Giardia lambria
For the improvement of growth and nutritional status of Thai children, the preventive measures against parasitic and infectious diseases through improvement of environmental hygiene are essential as well as food supply.