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Brief Reports Indian Pediatrics 2002; 39:668-670 |
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Nutritional Status and Diet Intake of Preschool Children in Delhi |
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Abha Aggarwal
In India, the overall nutritional status of preschool children is far from satisfactory. There is scant data on the dietary intake of preschool children in different parts of the country. Subjects and Methods The study covered 10,000 households at the rate of 20 per cluster. A two stage stratified sampling with proportionate allocation was used to select ultimate sampling unit, e.g., block in urban areas of Delhi(1). At the first stage, clusters/charges in each town were allocated with proportional allocation . At the second stage localities/blocks were allocated with the same method. Further, the selection of blocks/localities was done by probability proportion to size (PPS). From each selected block/locality called cluster, the required number of households were covered with a random start. Of these 500, about two thirds belonged to slums/resettlement colonies/unauthorized colonies/J.J. colonies, 10% each from Government colonies and Delhi Development Authority, 2% belonged to higher income group who resided in private constructed bungalows and remaining were temporary huts. Information was collected on household characteristic, demographic profile and anthropometry for those persons in the household who were present at the time of collecting the data. Anthropometrical rods used for measuring the height were Seca while infantometer was used for recording recumbent length of children below 2 years of age. Both had an accuracy level of 1mm. Spring balances were used for measuring the weight with accuracy level of 100g(2). Health status and measurements of height and weight were carried out for the members of these 20 households per cluster. Further, for 10 households detailed information on the dietary intake, 5 households for the family and 5 households for individual diet, was collected. Dietary intake was assessed by actual weighment and 24-hour recall method using National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) methodology. The nutritive intake was calculated by using the table of nutritive value of Indian food(3-4). Results and Discussion A total of 745 males and 583 females were evaluated. The nutrient intake by age and sex categories is depicted in Table I. It was observed from the table that intake of protein was above the RDA value though there was not much statistical difference (p>0.05) in the intake of nutrients in males versus females. Although intake of Vitamin A was almost 50% of RDA in both the age groups, it was higher for males as compared to females. Table I- Average Intake of Nutrients by age and sex
The Nutritional status of children was also assessed by the three indices weight for age, height for age and weight for height (Table II). The prevalence of malnutrition for urban and rural areas was more in males as compared to females. According to weight for age criteria, the overall prevalence of undernutrition (<-2 SD) was about 44% for males and 39% for females. Similar trend was seen for height for age; males (16%) were more stunted than females (12%). However, wasting was more prevalent in urban females (27% vs. 17%) but there was little difference in wasting in rural females and males. Table II- Percent Distribution of Preschool Children According to SDClassification
The results of the study indicate that though the consumption of protein was above the RDA level, yet children were calorie deficient. The intake of protein and calcium above the RDA level may be due to the higher per capita income in Delhi. The prevalence of underweight and stunting was lower than that documented in the recent National Family Health Survey(5). This study did not support the possibility of gender bias. Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to Food and Nutrition Board, Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development for financial support and Government of Delhi for their cooperation. The authors are thankful to Mr. Anil Kumar, Senior Research Officer for data processing. Contributors: PS was the Project Director and was responsible for overall study design. AA was the Project Co-ordinator and co-ordinated data collection, data management and analysis. She will act as the guarantor for the paper. Funding: Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. Competing interests: None stated.
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