title: Follow-up Assessment of Under-nourished Children Under Integrated Child Development Services Scheme in Tapi District, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  India shares the largest burden of under-nutrition in world. The aim of this study was to conduct follow-up assessment of under-nourished children attending anganwadi center (AWC).
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective cohort study conducted in 50 AWC of Tapi district. Total 529 children aged 1-6 years diagnosed as under-nourished before 1 year were included. Pre-structured questionnaire was used for present day assessment of these children followed by Epi-info mediated analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children of literate mothers had higher weight gain. Ninety percent of children attended anganwadi regularly, however 25% of children dropped out for more than 1 month. In 1 year, growth had faltered in 20% children and was stagnant in 63% of them. Children who were treated for under-nutrition; that completed course at Child Development and Nutrition Center; and whose parents were counseled about the under-nourished status of child had higher weight gain than their counterparts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parents of under-nourished children must be counseled about the nutritional status of their child. In cases of under-nourished child, referral to higher center must be ensured by health worker. Supplementary feeding as a long-term solution to country's under-nutrition problem should be studied in detail with the alternative solutions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research, Umarwada, Surat, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Kanan T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS), Dharpur, Patan, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Sunil N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research, Umarwada, Surat, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Prakash B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS), Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Bhautik P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Modi
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS), Valsad, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Vaibhav V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Gharat
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research, Umarwada, Surat, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Rajkumar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bansal
keywords: Anganwadi; follow-up; nutritional assessment; under-nourished children