Publication:

A population based study on under nutrition and certain associated risk factors among children less than five years in a rural area

Background Child health indicators in developing countries show that there is still a long way to go to improve child health. Majority of the causes of mortality and morbidity in this ‘under 5’ age group are preventable through existing interventions. This study aims to identify the prevalence of under nutrition and the associated risk factors to improve the health status of children and the quality of life in rural India. The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of under-nutrition among children less than 5 years in a rural area and to find out the association between under nutrition and certain socio-economic, demographic, and environmental factors among children less than 5 years in a rural area.

Methods Children less than 5 years of age were listed from the family register in the sub-centres and were selected by simple random sampling method. Limit of accuracy was taken as 12 % of prevalence and Z (1-α/2) value of 1.96. 5% of the sample was added to take care of non-response and the final sample size was calculated as 370.

Results Based on WHO classification 2006 (weight for age), 46% of the children were normally nourished. Among the malnourished children, 37.6% were mildly under-nourished, 12.2% were moderately under-nourished and the remaining 4.3 % were severely under-nourished. Children born with a low birth weight, children who were not exclusively breastfed, birth spacing of <18 months, children living in overcrowded houses were at a significantly higher risk of being under-nourished. Children who had more than 3 episodes of ARI in the past one year were also at a risk of under nutrition.

Conclusions The high Prevalence of under-nutrition could be due to low birth weight, spacing of pregnancy less than 18 months, non –exclusive breast feeding, delayed weaning, recurrent respiratory infections and poor housing conditions. Better maternal care, exclusive breastfeeding, proper weaning and improvement in standard of living in rural area will reduce the problem of under nutrition among children less than 5 years.