Association of some socio-economic and socio-demographic variables with wasting among pre-school children of North Bengal, India

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is a global public health problem that causes premature morbidity and ill-health conditions and has long-lasting physiological effects in children. The present study assesses the prevalence of wasting [low mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC)-for-age] among children and to determine the association of wasting with different socio-economic and socio-demographic variables. METHODS: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 1222 pre-school children (boys: 589; girls: 633), aged 1-5 years, in Darjeeling district, North Bengal, India, using multistage stratified random sampling method. The MUAC was measured using the standard anthropometric procedure. Low MUAC-for-age was assessed by comparing with a standard age-sex-specific reference population (WHO, 1995). Children with MUAC value were found to be the z-scores 0.05). The logistic regression analysis observed that age, gender, birth order, area (rural), maternal education, household income and mothers' age were significantly associated with the prevalence of wasting (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Using MUAC-for-age, a high prevalence of wasting was observed among the children. Birth order, maternal education and maternal occupation were important determinants of wasting. There is an urgent requirement of nutritional intervention programmes to ameliorate the nutritional status of the children.