Behavioral problems in preadolescence: Does nutritional status have a role?

Malnutrition in children and adolescents is a global issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, while behavioral problems are becoming a growing public health concern in the area of child and adolescent mental health, with very few studies examining their association in preadolescence. This study aimed to assess the epidemiological relationship between malnutrition and behavioral problems in preadolescence. A school-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted in Pakistan. A total of 660, 11-12-year-old preadolescents were selected from a middle-class, co-educational school chain. Socio-demographic questionnaires and an officially adapted version of the Youth Self Report Form (YSR), which is the child and adolescent reported version of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), were used to collect data, along with anthropometric assessments following the WHO protocol. Thin and stunted preadolescents had significantly higher odds of internalizing problems (AOR= 2.05, P= 0.00..., Data were collected by trained enumerators using standard instruments on paper-based forms under the supervision of the principal investigator. Data were entered into a pre-designed software and later analysed in SPSS software., , # Behavioural Problems in Preadolescence: Does Nutritional Status Have a Role?

Dryad DOI: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.80gb5mkz8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.80gb5mkz8)

Description of the Data: Data were collected from 660, 11-12-year-old preadolescents who were studying in middle-class coeducational schools in Pakistan. Instruments for assessment: Anthropometric assessment was done to assess nutritional status, whereas the Youth Self Report Form of CBCL was used to assess Behavioral problems.

Author details: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

We have shared limited data in compliance with the Dryad policies to ensure participants' safety and confidentiality.

Variable definitions:

UniqueID | Participants' Unique ID
Age | Age of the participants | 0. 11 years; 1. 12 years
Gender | Gender of the participants | 0. Girl; 1. Boy
SES | Socioecnomic status/index | 1. 1st poorest; 2. 2nd; 3. 3rd; 4. 4th; 5. 5th Richest
Nutrition_status | Nutrit..., We confirm that we have received consent from our study participants to publish the de-identified data in the public domain.
Several measures are taken to de-identified the data that includes:
a) Assigning a unique participant ID (a numeric serial number)
b) No personal identifier are kept in the data such as participant name or parents' characteristics
c) Variables has been categories in a way that unique values of each participant is lumped into a broader category