Malnutrition Status Among Under-5 Children in a Hill Community of Nepal.
BACKGROUND
Malnutrition, especially under nutrition puts children at increased risk of morbidity and mortality and remains a serious barrier in child growth, development and survival. This is a major public health problem among under- 5 children in Nepal particularly in rural areas.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the burden and contributing factors for malnutrition in hill community of Ilam district in eastern Nepal.


METHODS
A cross sectional study was conducted in rural hill communities of Ilam district, Nepal with a sample of 240 under- 5 children. Anthropometric measurements were used as per WHO guidelines to asses three nutritional status: Underweight, Stunting, and Wasting using descriptive statistics and chi square test was applied using SPSS 12.0 to assess social and predisposing factors.


RESULTS
Seventeen percent of under- 5 children were moderately and 10.4 % were severely underweight. Similarly, 22.9%, and 17.5% were found to be moderately and severely stunted respectively. Less than 10% were found to be moderately and severely wasted. Older age group of children, education level of mother, not exclusive breast feeding practice had significant (p <0.05) effect on stunting. More than 50% children were affected with stunting, underweight and wasting at the same time.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant proportion of under - 5 children were malnourished in the communities of the hilly areas. The study unveiled the importance of literacy and exclusive breast feeding for the prevention of malnutrition in under- 5 children.
School of Public Health and Community Medicine B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
K
K
Gaurav
School of Public Health and Community Medicine B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
I S
IS
Poudel
School of Public Health and Community Medicine B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
S
S
Bhattarai
School of Public Health and Community Medicine B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
P M S
PM
Pradhan
School of Public Health and Community Medicine B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
P K
PK
Pokharel
D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*