An Intervention Study in Malnutrition among Under Five Children in a Rural Area of Jammu.

ABSTRACT

To assess the impact of nutrition advice given to mothers of under five children. Settings Three Anganwari centre areas in village Domana (rural field practice area of Postgraduate Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical college, Jammu). Study Design: Longitudinal study. Participants: 206 under five children (134 males and 72 females). Methodology: Three Anganwari centre areas selected by simple random sampling and a total of 206 under five children enrolled for the study by house to house visit. 43 children having varying degrees of malnutrition as per IAP criteria were followed longitudinally for a period of one year through monthly home visits. Episodes of illness and weight was recorded every month and plotted on growth chart. Results: The prevalence of malnutrition was 28.87%. Majority were having Grade I malnutrition. Post intervention results revealed that nutrition education in mothers had a positive effect on the nutritional status of their children.