Nutritional Status of Under-five Siblings of Severely Wasted Children in Bhopal

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study the prevalence and associated factors of undernutrition in siblings of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Method: It was a community-based crosssectional study of under-five year siblings of children with SAM. Results: A total of 128 under-five years siblings were studied, 30% had SAM whereas 20% had moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). More than 7 members in a family (OR=4.23, CI 1.9-9.6, P<0.001), underweight mothers (OR=5.2, CI 2.08-13.0, P<0.001), children who received pre-lacteal feeds (OR=3.24, CI 1.33-7.87, P=0.007), and Muslim religion (OR=4.44, CI 1.78-11.1, P<0.001) were significantly associated with finding of another child with SAM in the family. Conclusion: There was high proportion of severe malnutrition in siblings of children with SAM. Consideration should be given to actively screen all under-5 children in the family of a newly diagnosed child with SAM for undernutrition.