Page 95 - IJPS-2-1

International Journal of Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Cross-sectional study of child malnutrition and

associated risk factors among children aged

under five in West Bengal, India

Sanjit Sarkar 1,2,3

1 Poverty and Human Development Monitoring Agency (PHDMA), State Secretariat, Sachibalaya Marg,
Bhubaneswar-751001, India
2 Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi NCR, Plot No. 47, Sector 44, Institutional Area Gurgaon –
122002, India
3 International Institute for Population Sciences, Govandi Station Road, Deonar, Opposite Sanjona
Chamber, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400088, India

Abstract: Using a cross-sectional study of 485 sample households in 2013, the present paper examines
the prevalence and risk factors of child malnutrition among children under the age of five in West Bengal,
India. As a part of this investigation, children’s underweight status, wasting, and stunting were examined
in order to determine child nutritional status using the WHO growth standard. We performed bivariate
analyses in order to elucidate differentials in nutritional indices and fitted multinomial logistic regression
models to examine the net effect of different socio-economic factors on the likelihood of child malnutri-
tion. Analysis results revealed stunting (51%) as the most common form of malnutrition among children
aged under five, followed by underweight status (41%), and wasting (22%).Gender discrimination
among children increases with age, whereby girls are more deprived (as measured by nutritional indi-
ces) compared to boys later in childhood relative to younger ages. Results from multinomial analyses
reveal age, religion, caste, and birth-order of the child as significant predictors of child’s nutritional status.
Keywords: underweight, wasting, stunting, WHO Growth Standard, gender discrimination

*Correspondence to: Sanjit Sarkar, Poverty and Human Development Monitoring Agency (PHDMA), State Secretariat,
Sachibalaya Marg, Bhubaneswar-751001, India; Email: sanjitiips@gmail.com
Received: January 27, 2016; Accepted: March 5, 2016; Published Online: March 11, 2016
Citation: Sarkar S. (2016). Cross-sectional study of child malnutrition and associated risk factors among children
aged under five in West Bengal, India, International Journal of Population Studies, vol.2(1): 89–102.
http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/IJPS.2016.01.003.
1. Introduction
Copyright: © 2016 Sanjit
Sarkar. This is an Open Ac-
cess article distributed under Malnutrition, which is one of the global culprits, resists the optimal health achievement among chil-
the terms of the Creative Com- dren and has serious implications, including death, especially in the low- and middle-income coun-
mons Attribution-NonCommer- tries. Although prevalence of underweight status among under-five children has decreased since
cial 4.0 International License 1990, 99 million children under five years of age are underweight around the globe (UNICEF, WHO
(http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitt- and World Bank, 2014). UNICEF estimates that nearly 2.6 million children, who die each year due
ing all non-commercial use, to malnutrition, are equivalent to one-third of all registered child deaths globally (UN Inter-agency
distribution, and reproduction Group for Child Mortality Estimation, 2011). However, the contribution made by under-nutrition
in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited. towards child mortality varies by disease, and is the highest for diarrheal diseases (73%), with much

International Journal of Population Studies | 2016, Volume 2, Issue 1 89