Department of Community Medicine, Shri Ram Murti Smarak Institute of Medical Sciences, Bareilly (U,P,), India.
Arch Public Health. 2012 Apr 17;70(1):8. doi: 10.1186/0778-7367-70-8.
One of the greatest problems for India is undernutrition among children. The country is still struggling with this problem. Malnutrition, the condition resulting from faulty nutrition, weakens the immune system and causes significant growth and cognitive delay. Growth assessment is the measurement that best defines the health and nutritional status of children, while also providing an indirect measurement of well-being for the entire population.
A cross-sectional study, in which we explored nutritional status in school-age slum children and analyze factors associated with malnutrition with the help of a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and clinical examination from December 2010 to April 2011 in urban slums of Bareilly, Uttar-Pradesh (UP), India.
The mean height and weight of boys and girls in the study group was lower than the CDC 2000 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) standards in all age groups. Regarding nutritional status, prevalence of stunting and underweight was highest in age group 11 yrs to 13 yrs whereas prevalence of wasting was highest in age group 5 yrs to 7 yrs. Except refractive errors all illnesses are more common among girls, but this gender difference is statistically significant only for anemia and rickets. The risk of malnutrition was significantly higher among children living in joint families, children whose mother's education was [less than or equal to] 6th standard and children with working mothers.
Most of the school-age slum children in our study had a poor nutritional status. Interventions such as skills-based nutrition education, fortification of food items, effective infection control, training of public healthcare workers and delivery of integrated programs are recommended.
印度面临的最大问题之一是儿童营养不良。该国仍在努力解决这个问题。营养不良是由营养不当引起的状况，会削弱免疫系统，并导致显著的生长和认知延迟。生长评估是最好的定义儿童健康和营养状况的方法，同时也为整个人口提供了幸福感的间接衡量。
这是一项横断面研究，我们在 2010 年 12 月至 2011 年 4 月期间在印度北方邦的 Bareilly 城市贫民窟中，借助预先设计和预先测试的问卷、人体测量学测量和临床检查，探讨了学龄期贫民窟儿童的营养状况，并分析了与营养不良相关的因素。
研究组中男孩和女孩的平均身高和体重在所有年龄组均低于 CDC 2000（疾病控制和预防中心）标准。关于营养状况，11 至 13 岁年龄组的发育迟缓率和体重不足率最高，而 5 至 7 岁年龄组的消瘦率最高。除屈光不正外，所有疾病在女孩中更为常见，但这种性别差异仅在贫血和佝偻病方面具有统计学意义。在联合家庭中生活的儿童、母亲受教育程度[等于或小于]6 年级的儿童和有工作的母亲的儿童中，营养不良的风险明显更高。
我们研究中的大多数学龄期贫民窟儿童营养状况较差。建议采取干预措施，如基于技能的营养教育、食品强化、有效感染控制、公共卫生工作者培训和综合方案的实施。
