Height and weight as a reflection of the nutritional situation of school-aged children working and living in the streets of Jakarta

The nutritional status of 89 school-aged children living and working on the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia was assessed. Seventy-nine percent of the children were children “on” the street who still had regular contact with their families, whereas only 21% of the children were “of” the street who had only remote or no contact with their families. The mother was more likely to be present in the home of the children on the street than in the home of the children of the street. The average earning of the children was between 2000 and 3000 rupiah/day (U.S.$1 = 2000 Indonesian Rupiah). The distribution of height-for-age relative to the NCHS reference standard indicated that 52% of the children were stunted (below the third centile of the standard). However, the distribution of weight-for-height was close to that of the reference population standard, and only 7% of the children were wasted (below the third centile of the standard). Comparison of the data from these street children with those of other school-aged children living in Jakarta slums shows that street children weigh more and are taller than their socio-economic peers.