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Acute malnutrition associated with MUAC among under-five children in tribal areas, India - A cross-sectional study

2024; Cambridge University Press; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s1368980024002465

1475-2727

Shraboni Patra, Shashikant Sambharkar, Sheetal Harode, Kalpana Barde, Amta Pillewan,

Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare

Abstract Objective: For the past three decades, India has implemented several nutrition programs to address malnutrition in the under-fives. To understand the program’s impact, this study assesses the prevalence of acute malnutrition, MAM, and SAM, using MUAC among tribal children. Design: The survey was conducted in two tribal blocks (Desaiganj and Bhamragad) of the Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra to identify children registered in the ‘Anganwadi’ program. Setting: A community-based cross-sectional survey was carried out. Subjects: The total sample size was 1055 children (aged 0-59 months). Results: The overall prevalence of SAM and MAM was 1.4% (n=15) and 9.8% (n=103). A higher prevalence of MAM was found in males (38.5%, n= 40) and females (27.1%, n= 28) in below 6 months. Additionally, a higher prevalence of MAM was observed in females (10.7%, n=113) compared to males (9.0%, n=95). The prevalence of SAM was significantly (p<0.001) higher in females (1.7%, n=18) than in males (1.0%, n=11). Children aged between 12 and 17 months were sixteen times more likely (OR=16.9, p<0.001, CIs=4.8-59.6) to have MAM (MUAC<12.5cm) than children aged between 6 and 11 months. Children from the Desaiganj block were significantly less likely (OR=0.4, p<0.001, CIs= 0.2-0.7) to have MAM compared to children from Bhamragad. Approximately 4% (n=42) of children were classified as critically malnourished. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for block-level monitoring of MAM and SAM, as well as evaluation of existing nutrition programs, to address the disparity in the sex-specific prevalence of MAM and SAM in tribal areas.