Association of some socio-economic and socio-demographic variables with wasting among pre-school children of North Bengal, India.
BACKGROUND
Undernutrition is a global public health problem that causes premature morbidity and ill-health conditions and has long-lasting physiological effects in children. The present study assesses the prevalence of wasting [low mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC)-for-age] among children and to determine the association of wasting with different socio-economic and socio-demographic variables.


METHODS
The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 1222 pre-school children (boys: 589; girls: 633), aged 1-5 years, in Darjeeling district, North Bengal, India, using multistage stratified random sampling method. The MUAC was measured using the standard anthropometric procedure. Low MUAC-for-age was assessed by comparing with a standard age-sex-specific reference population (WHO, 1995). Children with MUAC value were found to be the z-scores <-3SD, and <-2 SD were considered to be severely and moderately wasted, respectively. The socio-economic and socio-demographic variables were recorded using structured schedule methods. The data were statistically analyzed based on descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis and logistic regression using SPSS (version, 17.0).


RESULTS
The age-specific mean MUAC ranged from 126.1-142.5 mm (boys) and 126.9-136.4 mm (girls). The prevalence of wasting was very high (boys: 62.3%; girls: 63.3%) (p>0.05). The logistic regression analysis observed that age, gender, birth order, area (rural), maternal education, household income and mothers' age were significantly associated with the prevalence of wasting (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Using MUAC-for-age, a high prevalence of wasting was observed among the children. Birth order, maternal education and maternal occupation were important determinants of wasting. There is an urgent requirement of nutritional intervention programmes to ameliorate the nutritional status of the children.
Department of Anthropology, University of North Bengal, Raja Rammohunpur, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.
Pushpa Lata
PL
Tigga
Department of Anthropology, University of North Bengal, Raja Rammohunpur, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.
Jaydip
J
Sen
Department of Anthropology, Assam University (Diphu Campus), Diphu, Karbi Anglong, Assam, India.
Nitish
N
Mondal
D000367:Age Factors; D001132:Arm; D001722:Birth Order; D049628:Body Size; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D004614:Emaciation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009035:Mothers; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D012737:Sex Factors; D019282:Wasting Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology
Anthropometry; Birth Order; Child health; Malnutrition; Maternal Education; Mid upper Arm Circumference; Under Five; Wasting