Nutritional assessment among children (1–5 years of age) using various anthropometric indices in a rural area of Haryana, India

ABSTRACT

Global Nutrition Targets 2025 specified a set of six global nutrition targets, and one aim is to achieve a 40% reduction in the number of children under 5 years of age who are stunted. National data on underweight provided under National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) (2015–2016) revealed an underweight prevalence rate around 35.7% as compared to NFHS-3 where it was 42.5%, which reflects only 6.8% reduction in underweight over a decade. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the rural area of Rohtak district during October 2014 to September 2015 among children who were 1–5 years of age. The anthropometric measurement and nutritional status categorization among children were done using the WHO guidelines. Results: A total of 600 children participated in the study. Around 41.3% of the study participants had stunting as their nutritional status, while taking composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) for nutritional status into consideration, nearly 54.4% of the participants were undernourished. Stunting and underweight were more prevalent among girls. Conclusions: Composite anthropometric index provides the actual prevalence or proportion of undernourished children in a community, so the policies should be based on the basis of CIAF so to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition in the community more effectively.