Publication:

Assessment of nutritional status of children aged under five years in tribal population of Jawadhu hills in Tamil Nadu

Background Malnutrition is more common in India than in Sub-Saharan Africa. One in every three malnourished children in the world lives in India. Tribal population constitutes about 8% of the total population in India. They are particularly vulnerable to under nutrition, because of their geographical isolation, socio-economic disadvantage and inadequate health facilities. The objectives of this study were to assess the Nutritional status of children under five years in a Tribal area of Jawadhu hills under Puthurnadu PHC Sub-center and to find the associated risk factors accompanying the under five children.

Methods A community based cross sectional study was conducted in a tribal area of Jawadhu hills Puthurnadu PHC sub-center. A total of 316 children participated in the study. A predesigned, pre tested questionnaire was used to collect data on socio demographic profile (age, sex, religion, education, income) from the Mother/Guardian and measured all possible anthropometric measurements.

Results The overall prevalence of under nutrition was 26.9% in which Severely under nourished were 9.2%, the overall prevalence of stunting was 55.4% in which severely stunted were 23.4% and the overall prevalence of wasting was 10.4% in which severely wasted were 1.9% respectively. Male children were found to be more malnourished than Female children in our study. Children from joint family are more prone to get malnourished than Nuclear families.

Conclusions The overall prevalence of stunting was higher (55.4%) which is greater than the cut-off point stated by the World Health Organization to indicate that the severity of malnutrition. Adequate measures to be made to overcome malnutrition.