Publication:

A study of malnutrition and associated risk factors among children of age 06-59 months in urban area of Jabalpur district (M.P.)

Background “Malnutrition is a silent emergency”. Malnutrition is not only an important cause of childhood mortality and morbidity, but also leads to permanent impairment of both physical and mental growth of those who survive.

Methods Cross sectional study was conducted among 720 children of age group 06-59 months in randomly selected eight wards of Jabalpur District. Multistage random sampling technique was used for the selection of study subjects. Predesigned questionnaire was used to collect data and anthropometric measurements were done. Data entry and analysis was done using Epi Info™ 7.1.5 and SPSS 20.0 (free trial version).

Results The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting were found to be 34.3%, 41.5% and 18.9% respectively while the prevalence of obese and overweight was 3.1% and 7.4% respectively. Malnutrition was found to be higher among the children born with low birth weight, having higher birth order, more number of siblings, those with incomplete immunization status and inappropriate feeding practices i.e. lack of exclusive breast feeding and improper weaning.

Conclusions The present study demonstrates the multiple risk factors for childhood malnutrition, encompassing sectors other than health alone like social and economic sectors, requiring multisectoral approach to fight against the silent killer of childhood malnutrition.