Publication:

A comparative study to assess the nutritional status of preschool children attending the Anganwadi centres of selected urban and rural areas of Davangere

Background Children are the foundation of a nation, and those in rural areas and lower socio-economic groups are vulnerable to malnutrition. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the nutritional status of preschool children and the socio-demographic factors affecting their growth in urban and rural Anganwadi centers (AWCs) of Davangere district.

Methods An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted in year May 2023 to October 2024 in both urban and rural AWCs of the Davanagere district. A total of 120 children aged 3-5years children were selected using multistage sampling and were screened using anthropometric measurements such as height, weight and mid upper arm circumference. Socio-demographic information was collected using self-structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS v20 with p<0.05. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests assessed associations between nutritional status and dichotomized sociodemographic variables.

Results In urban areas, 10% of children had moderate underweight and 5% had severe underweight, moderate stunting and severe stunting each, and 11.6% and 1.6% had moderate wasting and severe wasting respectively; whereas in rural areas, 6.6% had moderate underweight and 13.3% had severe underweight, 16.6% had moderate stunting and 5% had severe stunting, and 15% had moderate wasting with 5% showing severe wasting. Malnutrition was found to be associated with factors such as age of mother at marriage, family type, birth weight, breastfeeding practice, colostrum given and economic status of family.

Conclusions Malnutrition exists in both settings, driven by maternal and socio-economic factors, warranting targeted interventions.