title: Factors associated with malnutrition among tribal children in India: a non-parametric approach.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of malnutrition among the tribal children in India. The investigation is based on secondary data compiled from the National Family Health Survey-3. We used a classification and regression tree model, a non-parametric approach, to address the objective. Our analysis shows that breastfeeding practice, economic status, antenatal care of mother and women's decision-making autonomy are negatively associated with malnutrition among tribal children. We identify maternal malnutrition and urban concentration of household as the two risk factors for child malnutrition. The identified associated factors may be used for designing and targeting preventive programmes for malnourished tribal children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Assam University, Silchar, Assam 788 011, India debnath_avi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Avijit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Debnath
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Assam University, Silchar, Assam 788 011, India.
authors.forename: Nairita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bhattacharjee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D009035:Mothers; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: India; child malnutrition; classification and regression tree model; scheduled tribe