Abstract

Background: In any community, under-five children constitute one of the most vulnerable groups for nutritional deficiencies. The estimation of growth in children is vital for screening health status, identifying divergences from normality, and evalu- ating the efficiency of interventions. Composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) offers a single number to the overall evaluation of malnourished children in a population, which no other conventional indicators do.
Objective: To estimate the overall prevalence of undernutrition among under-five children in an urban slum using CIAF and study some covariates associated with undernutrition.
Materials and Methods: This community based cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban slum area of Nagpur city. Study subjects were under-five children residing in the slum, and respondents were their mothers. Data collection was done by conducting house-to-house survey, and information was recorded in predesigned pretested questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were recorded using standard techniques. Overall prevalence of undernutrition was esti- mated using CIAF. Result: The overall prevalence of undernutrition by CIAF among under-five children in urban slum area was found to be 58.59%. Covariates found to be significantly associated with undernutrition were lower socioeconomic status, illiteracy of mother, low birth weight, birth order, narrow birth interval, exclusive breastfeeding, immunization status, and childhood morbidities. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of undernutrition among under-five children was found to be 58.59%, which was higher than that estimated by conventional measures of undernutrition (underweight, stunting, and wasting). An aggregate and comprehensive measure of the total magnitude of undernutrition such as CIAF is a useful tool to quantify undernutrition, especially to identify children with multiple anthropometric failures.