Original Articles
Nutritional status of 2–6 year old children of Kankabati grampanchayat, Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India
Authors:
Nirmalya Kumar Sinha ,
Department of Nutrition, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India, LK
About Nirmalya
Department of Nutrition, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India
Kartik Maiti,
Department of Zoology, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India, IN
About Kartik
Department of Zoology, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, Indi
Pradip Samanta,
Department of Microbiology, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India,, IN
About Pradip
Department of Microbiology, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India
Dulal Chandra Das,
Department of Botany, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India, IN
About Dulal
Department of Botany, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India
Priyanka Banerjee
Department of Nutrition, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India, IN
About Priyanka
Department of Nutrition, Raja N L Khan Women’s College, Midnapore, India
Abstract
Objective: To assess the prevalence of undernutrition (underweight, stunting and wasting) among preschool children of Kankabati grampanchayat, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India
Methods: The study was a community based, cross-sectional survey carried out among 410 Bengali Hindu low socioeconomic preschool children (198 boys and 212 girls) of 2 to 6 years. The height and weight of each child were taken. The results were analyzed by Z score values according to height for age, weight for age and weight for height with reference to NCHS.
Results: The overall prevalence of undernutrition among these children was: underweight 47%, stunting 43% and wasting 24%. Severe (below –3 Z score) underweight, stunting and wasting was 13.7%, 16.3% and 7.9% respectively. Prevalence of underweight was higher in boys (45.5%) than girls (43.9%); stunting and wasting were also higher in boys (44.9% stunting and 25.3% wasting) than girls (41.5% stunting and 22.6% wasting).
Conclusion: The findings of the present study revealed widespread prevalence of undernutrition among preschool children of Kankabati grampanchayat, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India.
(Key words: Preschool children; community health; undernutrition)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljch.v41i2.4392
How to Cite:
Sinha, N.K., Maiti, K., Samanta, P., Das, D.C. and Banerjee, P., 2012. Nutritional status of 2–6 year old children of Kankabati grampanchayat, Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 41(2), pp.60–64. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/sljch.v41i2.4392
Published on
11 Jun 2012.
Peer Reviewed
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