Prevalence of Undernutrition among Preschool Children under Five Attending Pediatric OPD in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Northeastern India

Introduction Prevalence of undernutrition in developing countries, though on the declining trend, is still a cause for alarm. The prevalence in South-central Asia is the highest in the world. The prevalence in India is also among the highest in the world. In such a scenario, this study was undertaken to find out the nutritional status of under five children attending the Pediatric OPD in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Northeast India. Materials and Methods A cross sectional study was carried out during 12 months at the Pediatric OPD, NEIGRIHMS, Shillong, Meghalaya-India. A total of 6,624 children aged 0-60 months were enrolled for the study. Weight and height was taken by trained staff following standard anthropometric techniques. The z-score of weight-for-height, weight-for-age and height-for-age was calculated as against World Health Organization (WHO) recent child growth standard. Results Out of the total, 6,183 children were included in the present analyses. Overall the prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was 19.7%, 35.5% and 8.5% respectively. Of these, 9.0%, 19.7% and 3.4% children were found to be severely underweight, stunted and wasted. It was observed that the prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was significantly higher in boys than girls. Based on the WHO classification of severity in malnutrition, the overall prevalence of underweight (> 19%) and stunting (> 30%) was high. While the prevalence rates of wasting (5-9%) were medium. Conclusion The nutritional status of the subjects is unsatisfactory. There is scope for a detailed community based study and nutritional interventions.