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.