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| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2013 | Volume
: 3
| Issue : 3 | Page : 323-324 |
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Prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting among children in urban slums of Delhi
Ajeet Singh Bhadoria, Neha Sareen, Umesh Kapil
Department of Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi
| Date of Web Publication | 10-Jul-2013 |
Correspondence Address:
Umesh Kapil
Department of Human Nutrition, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi - 110 029
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2231-0738.114885
How to cite this article:
Bhadoria AS, Sareen N, Kapil U. Prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting among children in urban slums of Delhi. Int J Nutr Pharmacol Neurol Dis 2013;3:323-4 |
How to cite this URL:
Bhadoria AS, Sareen N, Kapil U. Prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting among children in urban slums of Delhi. Int J Nutr Pharmacol Neurol Dis [serial online] 2013 [cited 2022 Jul 6];3:323-4. Available from: https://www.ijnpnd.com/text.asp?2013/3/3/323/114885 |
Sir,
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 documented the prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting among children in Delhi as 26.1%, 42.2%, and 15.4% respectively. [1] We recently conducted a study on the prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting among children in the age group 3-5 years residing in urban slums of Meharauli block of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Total of 336 children were included in the present study. The sample size was calculated keeping the prevalence of wasting as 15% [1] with 95% confidence limit, 80% of power, and 4% of absolute precision. A house-to-house survey was conducted and all the children in the age group 3-5 years were included in the study. The socio-economic status (SES) of the child's family was assessed using modified Kuppuswamy Classification, 2007. [2] Each child's parents/guardians were briefed about the objectives of the study. Written consent was obtained from them. Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were recorded utilizing standard equipments and procedure. [3] The Z-scores for weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ) were calculated using World Health Organization (WHO) reference data as standard. [4] The children were classified as underweight, stunted, and wasted if their WAZ, HAZ, and WHZ Z-score values were less than −2.0 standard deviation.
Among the children included in the study, the means (± SD) of the WAZ, HAZ, and WHZ were found to be −1.56 ± 1.09, −1.55 ± 1.56 and −0.93 ± 0.96 respectively.
It was found that the prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting among children was 37.5% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 34.86-40.14), 39% (95% CI: 36.34-41.66), and 13.1% (95% CI: 11.26-14.94), respectively.
Prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting as per the SES is given in the [Table 1]. The prevalence of underweight, wasting, and stunting increases as the SES decreases. The difference in prevalence of underweight and stunting among socio-economic classes was found to be statistically significant ( P < 0.05). | Table 1: Prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting according to socio-economic classes
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Similar low mean values of WAZ, HAZ, and WHZ Z-score were reported earlier among the children in the NFHS-3. [1] High prevalence of underweight (73.2%), stunting (89.6%), and wasting (4.1%) were reported in an earlier study among children in the age group of 3-5 years in Uttar Pradesh, India. [5]
A study conducted among pre-school children in Empowered Action Group states in India reported the prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting as 32.6%, 59.4%, and 41.3% respectively. [6]
The overall prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting in the present study was 37.5%, 39%, and 13.1% respectively. According to WHO, these levels of prevalence in children of age group 3-5 years in Urban Slum community indicates high prevalence rate for underweight, stunting, and wasting. [7]
Preventive measures for control of malnutrition in children are urgently required in urban slum communities in NCT of Delhi.
 References | |  |
| 1. | International Institute for Population Sciences (IIP S) and Macro International. Nutrition and Anaemia.National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), 2005-06: India. Vol. I. Mumbai: IIPS. 2007. p. 273. 
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| 2. | Kumar N, Shekhar C, Kumar P, Kundu AS. Kuppuswamy's socioeconomic status scale-updating for 2007. Indian J Pediatr 2007;74:1131-2.
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| 3. | WHO. Annex 2: Recommended measurement protocols and derivation of indices. Physical Status: The Use and Interpretation of Anthropometry. Report of a WHO Expert Committee. World Health Organisation Technical Report Series 854. WHO: Geneva; 1995. p. 427-30.
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| 4. | WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group. Assessment of differences in linear growth among populations in the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study. Acta Paediatr Suppl. 2006b; 450:56-65.
[PUBMED] |
| 5. | Awasthi S, Das R, Verma T, Vir S. Anemia and undernutrition among preschool children in Uttar Pradesh, India. Indian Pediatr 2003;40:985-90.
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| 6. | Kulasekaran RA. Influence of mothers' chronic energy deficiency on the nutritional status of preschool children in empowered action group states in India. Int J Nutr Pharmacol Neurol Dis 2012;2:198-209.
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| 7. | World Health Organization. Methods and standardized data presentation: Cut-off points and summary statistics. WHO Global database on child growth and malnutrition. WHO: Geneva; 1997. p. 51-52. Available from: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1997/WHO_NUT_97.4.pdf. [Last accessed Sep 19 2012].
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[Table 1]
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