Assessment of Nutritional Status of Pre-School Children (3-5 yrs) Residing in the Catchment Area of Ram Nagar Urban Health Center, Belgaum.

ABSTRACT

Malnutrition is a silent emergency. The prevalence of malnourished children in India is 43% which is nearly 2 fold higher than that of Sub-Saharan Africa. Malnutrition results from imbalance between the body’s needs and the intake of nutrients. Objective: To assess the nutritional status of pre-school children (3-5 yrs) residing in the catchment area of Ram Nagar Urban Health Center.This study was undertaken in the urban slum area of Ramnagar UHC. Using formula n= 4pq/d2the calculated sample size was 275. The sample was selected by Simple Random Sampling. A pre-designed and pilot tested questionnaire was developed. Ethical clearance and informed consent was obtained. It was seen that nearly one third of the children were under weight, wasted and stunted. One third was also categorized as malnourished by MUAC criteria. The mean ±SD age of pre-school children was 47.63 10.42 months, the mean ±SD weight of pre-school children was 12.98 1.14 kg and the mean ±SD height of pre-school children was 98.49 2.86 cm. There was an immediate need for nutritional intervention by the government sectors to improve the nutritional status of the children. The running of ICDS program must be evaluated to know its effectiveness and efficiency.