Bhattacharyya Madhumita, Roy Soumit, Sarkar Asim, Sinha Rabindra N, Mallick Ashok K, Bandyopadhyay Sayanti
Associate Professor, Department of Maternal and Child Health, All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Senior Resident, Department of Community Medicine, IQ City Medical College, Durgapur, West Bengal, India.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2021 Aug;10(8):2940-2946. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2472_20. Epub 2021 Aug 27.
Malnutrition is still a great barrier to the growth and development of children, especially in India. Children from the underprivileged sections of the society like slum children are more vulnerable to both undernutrition and overnutrition. This study aimed to estimate the magnitude of malnutrition among school-going children in a slum area of Kolkata and to elicit the association of nutritional status with parental education.
A cross-sectional observational study was conducted from November 2017 to May 2018 among 508 school-going children of 6 years to 19 years of age in slums of Chetla, Kolkata. Out of three coeducation high schools catering to those children, two schools were randomly selected. 254 participants from each school were selected using systematic random sampling. Students, unwilling to participate and/or whose parents denied providing informed written consent were excluded. After the interview by a predesigned, pretested schedule, their anthropometric examination was conducted.
Prevalence of stunting and severe stunting was present in 9.4% and 1.2% of subjects whereas the prevalence of thinness was 23.6% among them. The prevalence of overnutrition was 11%. Boys are more stunted (OR = 2.13, = 0.013) and thin (OR = 1.73, = 0.011) than girls. Poor parental education was significantly associated with both undernourishment (stunting and thinness) as well as overweight and obesity.
Substantial burden of double malnutrition was observed among school-going slum children. Parental education had an important role to prevent malnutrition of their children. Thus, periodic growth monitoring with the strengthening of the Mid-Day Meal program and awareness generation campaigns regarding malnutrition among parents of slum children are highly needed.
营养不良仍然是儿童生长发育的巨大障碍，尤其是在印度。来自社会弱势群体（如贫民窟儿童）的孩子更容易出现营养不良和营养过剩的情况。本研究旨在评估加尔各答一个贫民窟地区学龄儿童的营养不良程度，并探讨营养状况与父母教育程度之间的关联。
2017年11月至2018年5月，在加尔各答切特拉贫民窟对508名6至19岁的学龄儿童进行了一项横断面观察性研究。在三所面向这些儿童的男女同校高中中，随机选择了两所学校。使用系统随机抽样从每所学校选取254名参与者。不愿意参与和/或其父母拒绝提供知情书面同意的学生被排除在外。通过预先设计、预先测试的问卷进行访谈后，对他们进行人体测量检查。
发育迟缓率和严重发育迟缓率分别为9.4%和1.2%，消瘦率为23.6%。营养过剩率为11%。男孩比女孩更容易发育迟缓（OR = 2.13， = 0.013）和消瘦（OR = 1.73， = 0.011）。父母教育程度低与营养不良（发育迟缓和消瘦）以及超重和肥胖均显著相关。
在贫民窟学龄儿童中观察到了严重的双重营养不良负担。父母教育在预防孩子营养不良方面起着重要作用。因此，迫切需要定期进行生长监测，加强午餐计划，并开展针对贫民窟儿童家长的营养不良宣传活动。
