RESUMEN
Malnutrition is the gravest single threat to global public health. Malnutrition is by far the largest contributor of child mortality globally. Severe hunger is especially prevalent amongst street children who are most vulnerable to disease and live under extremely difficult conditions. The objective of the paper is to assess the nutritional status and association between socio-demographic factors in street children from selected wards of the urban area. The study place is selected wards of Mumbai. History was taken from parents or relatives of the child while clinical examination and anthropometric measurements were performed on the child. The data collected is from a cross-sectional study where a pre-designed structured questionnaire was used. The used method for obtaining samples is a universal one. The statistical analysis is for conditions of stunting, under nutrition and wasting and was calculated according to WHO growth standards set forth in 2006.121 children were surveyed, out of which 56 were females. About 77 per cent out of total children were malnourished. Out of the total number of malnourished children, 43 per cent of children were stunted, 38 per cent were underweight and 19 per cent are wasted. About 36 per cent had fever, 27 per cent had U.R.T.I and 17 per cent had suffered from diarrhoea in the past one year. Of the total number of children, about 26 per cent had not been given colostrum and 73 per cent were not exclusively breast fed. Majority of the malnourished children were not exclusively breastfed and they had suffered from infections in the past one year. Maternal education had a strong inverse relationship to nutritional status.