Page 72 - IJPS-10-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Associated factors of child wasting in India

with wasting. Fourth, integrating the screening of children Ethics approval and consent to participate
for growth faltering into the routine health care for children
in public health centers is recommended. This ensures to Not applicable as the dataset used in this research is
maximize the opportunities to identify and manage wasting publicly available.
among children. Finally, it is crucial to recognize child Consent for publication
malnutrition resulting from the cumulative effect of various
factors, including macro-level economic shocks, weak social Not applicable.
protection, and structural issues, which necessitates active
engagement with other sectors (De Wagt & GuerreroSaul, Availability of data
2019; Ulahannan et al., 2022; Wali et al. 2021). The NFHS-5 data are available freely on DHS website
The strength of the study is the use of a nationally (https://dhsprogram.com/data).
representative survey with a relatively large sample size that References
enables us to include a comprehensive set of independent
variables in modeling for more robust findings. This study, Aguayo, V.M., Badgaiyan, N., & Dzed, L. (2016). Determinants
however, has also some inherent limitations because of the of child wasting in Bhutan. Insights from nationally
use of secondary data that excluded certain relevant factors representative data. Public Health Nutrition, 20(2):315-324.
of child wasting. The self-reported questions in NFHS-5 https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980016002111
related to key variables in this research may also involve Ahmad, I., Khalique, N., Khalil, S., & Maroof, M. (2018). Dietary
recall biases. In addition, the changes in the trend of wasting diversity and stunting among infants and young children:
due to economic distress and disruption in services during A cross-sectional study in Aligarh. Indian Journal of
the COVID-19 pandemic were not accounted for in the Community Medicine, 43(1):34-36.
analysis. The NFHS-5 data were collected in two rounds,
and thus, the accuracy of the outcome estimation may vary https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_382_16
between two rounds. Black, R.E., Allen, L.H., Bhutta, Z.A., Caulfield, L.E., de Onis, M.,
Ezzati, M., et al. (2008). Maternal and child undernutrition:
5. Conclusions Global and regional exposures and health consequences.
The Lancet, 371(9608):243-260.
Findings of the study suggest the need for comprehensive
program response to addressing wasting among children https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61690-0
aged 0 – 23 months. Prioritizing care of low-birth-weight Black, R.E., Victora, C.G., Walker, S.P., Bhutta, Z.A., Christian, P.,
babies in the community, enhancing maternal nutrition, de Onis, M., et al. (2013). Maternal and child undernutrition
and ensuring effective screening and interventions at and overweight in low-income and middle-income
community and health facilities are critical. Moreover, countries. The Lancet, 382(9890):427-451.
addressing the cumulative impact of various factors on https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60937-X
child wasting requires cross-sectoral engagement to
accelerate improvements in child nutrition. Budge, S., Parker, A.H., Hutchings, P.T., & Garbutt, C. (2019).
Environmental enteric dysfunction and child stunting.
Acknowledgments Nutrition Reviews, 77(4):240-253.
None. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuy068
Chambers, R., & Von Medeazza, G. (2013). Sanitation and
Funding stunting in India: Undernutrition’s blind spot. Economic and
Political Weekly, 48(25):15-18.
None.
Curtis, V., Cairncross, S., & Yonli, R. (2000). Domestic hygiene
Conflict of interest and diarrhoea-pinpointing the problem. Tropical Medicine
and International Health, 5(1):22-32.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
https://doi./org/10.1046/j.1365-3156.2000.00512.x
Author contributions Dangour, A.D., Watson, L., Cumming, O., Boisson, S., Che, Y.,
Conceptualization: Shivam Pandey, Jyoti Sharma Velleman, Y., et al. (2013). Interventions to improve water
Formal analysis: Shivam Pandey quality and supply, sanitation and hygiene practices, and
Investigation: Mumtaj Ali their effects on the nutritional status of children. Cochrane
Writing – original draft: Jyoti Sharma Database of Systematic Reviews, 8:CD009382.
Writing – review & editing: All authors https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009382.pub2

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 66 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.453