RESUMO
Background: Early childhood nutrition is an important stage in human development characterized by rapid cognitive development. The study aimed to determine the consumption of food patterns and dietary diversity among indigenous children according to socioeconomic status. Subjects/Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015–16). Our study included 13,963 tribal children aged six to twenty-three months. A 24-hour dietary recall questionnaire was used to collect data from the mother on 21 foods, 7 food categories, and an ADDI was calculated. The relationship between household wealth, maternal education, food consumption, and ADDI was studied using multivariate regression models. The study used two models. MODEL 1: Adjusted for sex, birth order, religion, children's age, mother education, house type, and family type. Model 2: only for sex and age. Results: The median (IQR) age of the 13963 children was 14 (10-19) months, with a female/male ratio of 1:1.06. Overall, the mean score for dietary diversity was low (2.47, 95% [CI] 2.44–2.49), and the prevalence of ADDI was only 26.9 percent. In model 1, higher-income households were shown to be as likely to consume dairy products. (aOR 2.20; 95% CI 1.90-2.54) and eggs (aOR 1.28; 95% CI 1.06-1.55) than those from poor households. Higher educated mothers were more likely to consume dairy products (aOR 1.52; 95 percent CI 1.26-1.83), eggs (aOR 1.32; 95 percent CI 1.02-1.69), and other fruits and fresh vegetables (aOR 1.32; 95 percent CI 1.04-1.67) compared to mothers with no education. Conclusion: The diverse dietary consumption of Indian tribal children was inadequate. Efforts should be taken to improve their nutritional status through nutrition education and nutrient sensitive farming, including kitchen gardens.
RESUMO
Objective: Malnutrition is a critical public health concern in India. We aimed to understand the prevalence of stunting and its association between cooking fuel type and breastfeeding among Indian infants (? 6 months of age). Methods: This study used information from a National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS) conducted between 2015 and 2016. From all eligible infants, information on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics was obtained. Univariate and multivariable binary logistic regression was performed to examine the factors associated with stunted children. Results: Of the 15,120 infants, the median (Inter Quartile Range) age was 4 (2-5) months with a female/male ratio of 1:1.06. The prevalence of polluting fuel use and stunting was 68.10% and 20.13% respectively. Stunting among polluting fuel and clean fuel was 22.17% and 15.78%. Stunting among exclusive breastfed and not exclusive breastfed was 20.62% and 19.53%. In adjusted analysis, households using clean fuel (Adjusted Odds Ratio 0.75; 95% Confidence Interval, 0.66-0.86) had lower odds of infants being stunted compared to polluting fuel. A infant currently being breastfed (aOR 0.76; 95% CI, 0.62-0.93) had lower odds of being stunted than infants currently not being breastfed. Conclusion: The present study indicates that polluting cooking fuel and not being breastfed was associated with an increased risk of infant being stunted. A community-based randomized control trial was required to study child and maternal health risks on polluting cooking fuel. Furthermore, the study highlights the urgent need to raise awareness on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding practices.