Assessment of Nutritional Status and its Determinants among Under-five Children in Urban Slum Areas of Gwalior City, Central India

Abstract

Introduction: Children living in urban slums are vulnerable to malnutrition due to lack of basic health facilities and poor environmental conditions. These make children susceptible to infectious diseases. Data on the correlates of stunting, underweight and wasting specifically among under-five children in central India remain limited, hence the need of this study. Aim: To study the prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting with its predictors in under-five children living in slum area. Materials and Methods: It was a community-based cross-sectional study, carried out from March 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019, slum area of Gwalior City, using multistage sampling. Study subjects were under-five children residing in urban slums. Data collection was done by conducting house to house survey and information was recorded in pre-designed questionnaire. Mean, Standard Deviation (SD), frequency and percentage were calculated. Logistic regression was applied to calculate Odds Ratio (OR, 95% CI). Data was analysed using version Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) -16. Results: A total of 550 children (257 boys, 293 girls) under-five years of age were included in the study. The overall prevalence of underweight was 49.1%, stunting was 58.2% and wasting was 23.5%. The risk of underweight, stunting and wasting was less among others caste category (OR:0.42,0.27,0.49). The risk was higher among children living in nuclear family (OR:1.86,1.78,1.72), with illiterate mother (OR:6.47,4.87,3.53), with Illiterate father (OR:4.60,3.65,1.99) and also among people living in kuccha house and using wood as medium of cooking food. Duration of breastfeeding, complementary feeding only, timing of initiation of complementary feeding and birth weight emerged as other significant predictors for underweight, stunting and wasting. Conclusion: Children with low birth weight, belonging to lower socioeconomic class, living in nuclear families and having illiterate parents require special attention and focus. Parents should also be careful in reference to their children’s complementary feeding and duration of breastfeeding.