merged

Diet Quality and Its Association with Nutritional Status of Homeless Children
in Klang Valley
Yong Kar Wen
Supervisor: Dr. Asma’ binti Ali
Bachelor of Food Science (Food Service and Nutrition)
School of Food Science and Technology
The rising number of homeless people, especially homeless children, in big cities such as
Klang Valley, is in a worrying state. These homeless children are prone to undernutrition
due to hunger which would then affect their growth development. However, less study
has been conducted in assessing their diet quality and nutritional status. Therefore, this
study attempts to determine their dietary intake of energy, macro and selected
micronutrients, diet quality using Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and nutritional status as well
as the association between diet quality and nutritional status. Data on sociodemographic,
24-hour dietary recalls and anthropometrics measurement which is BMI-for-age, will be
collected from 120 homeless children aged between 7 and 12 years in Klang Valley. It is
expected that most of them fail to fulfil the Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNI)
requirement for energy, macro and selected micronutrients and mostly have poor diet
quality. It is predicted that there is an association between diet quality and nutritional
status.
1218 | UMT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY