Nutritional status of under-fives in rural area of South India.

Background: Malnutrition is widely recognized as a major health problem in developing countries. It is wide spread in rural, tribal and urban slum areas. Growing children are most vulnerable to its consequences. Anthropometry is a simple field technique for evaluating physical growth and nutritional status of the children. Objective: To assess the nutritional status of under-fives'. Materials and Methods:This cross sectional study was conducted in Kakati-A sub-centre, under Primary Health Centre Vantamuri of Belgaum district. The sample size was 290. Data collection was done using pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. Statistical Analysis:Distribution of variables was assessed and comparison was done using chi square test and P value. Results: The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was observed to be 26.55%, 31.38% and 7.59%, while severe degree of underweight, stunting and wasting was observed in 5.86%, 27.24% and 6.51% respectively according to World Health Organization (WHO) 2006 classification. According to the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) classification the prevalence of Grade I malnutrition was 121 (47.10%), Grade II was 29 (10.00%) and Grade III and IV were 4 (1.40%). Conclusion: Majority of the children's diet was not adequate for calories and proteins as per Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines. Less than half of children were underweight, nearly one third were stunted and one fifth of children were wasted. No child was found to be overweight or obese.

Indice de masa corporal (peso Kg/m2) / Body mass index (weight Kg/m2)

Se presentan los percentiles del indice de Masa Corporal (P/T2) derivados de los valores de peso y talla del Estudio Transversal de Caracas (ETC), recomendando como norma de referencia provisional para Venezuela. La muestra corresponde a 2.793 varones y 2.599 niñas pertenecientes a los estratos sociales I+II+III (Graffar, modificado por H. Méndez Castellano) entre los 0 y los 18 años. Se calcularon los percentiles por desviaciones estandard y por posición, se escogieron éstos últimos debido a que la variable no sigue la distribución normal. Se desarrolló un Programa en Fortram IV y se ajustaron los percentiles por el método de los promedios móviles para suavizar las curvas. Se realizó un análisis comparativo con resultados reportados por otros investigadores. La amplitud entre los percentiles varió de acuerdo a la edad y al sexo y fué mayor entre los percentiles que se ubican por encima de la mediana. La mediana de los varones superó a la de las niñas hasta los diez años, entre esta edad y los dieciséis años se observó el predominio femenino puberal, que alcanzó a 0,9 Kg/m2 a los doce años, el dimorfismo sexual a los dieciocho años fué de 0,8 Kg/m2 a favor de los hombres. Se recomienda usar estos percentiles en conjunto con la distribución centilar de peso y talla, derivadas del Estudio Transversal de Caracas. Palabras Claves:-Peso para la talla-Composición Corporal-Malnutrición