Nutritional status and morbidity pattern of children aged 6-60 months beneficiaries of anganwadi at urban slums area of Raipur city in Central India

Abstract

Introduction: Malnutrition is one of the major social and public health concerns in India.There is similar situation in Chhattisgarh with 37% children underweight. About 200 million people in India are living in urban slums without basic health facilities, poor environment conditions that make children susceptible to infectious disease. Objective: To assess the nutritional status and morbidity pattern in children aged 6-60 months attending Anganwadi at urban slums of Raipur city. Methods: Cross sectional study was conducted in urban slum of Raipur city from July-2017 to June-2018. A representative sample of 605 children was anthropometrically and clinically assessed for their nutritional status and morbidity pattern. Socioeconomic variables were also collected to identify the determinants of nutritional status and morbidity pattern. Data was analyzed using SPSS-20 and WHO-Anthroplus. Informed consent and ethical issues were considered. Results: Out of the 605 children, 46.28% were in <2 years age group and 47.77% were female. Majority of them belongs to low socioeconomic (87.93%) status. As per WHO nutritional measurement criteria, 20.16% were underweight, 21.16% stunting and 13.05% wasting. Major morbidity conditions among study participants were respiratory infections (26.28%), diarrhea (15.54%), conjunctival pallor (19.83%), scabies (18.51%) and 10.91% dental caries. Mother's education, diarrhoeal/respiratory infection, socioeconomic status, mother's occupation were significant determinants for underweight in study children. Conclusion: Children benefited from Anganwadi centers in urban slum of Raipur has less underweight (20.16%) as compare to state average (29.1%) in urban area and better immunization coverage (92.40%).