NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF TEENAGERS IN URBAN AREA IN INDIA

Abstract

School age is described as the active rising stage of childhood (1). Undernutrition in children is one of India's most serious issues. The country is still dealing with this problem. Malnourishment, which is caused by poor feeding, damages the immune system and causes severe development and developmental delay. Development appraisal is the main measure for defining child's nutritional and health status, as well as offering an indirect indicator of well-being for the adult population.
Methodology:
From jan.2019 to july 2019, we conducted a cross-sectional study in urban slums of Hisar, Haryana, India, to investigate nutritional status in school-age slum children and examine factors associated with malnutrition using a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire, anthropometric assessments, and clinical analysis.
Result:
In all age ranges, the mean height and weight of boys and girls in the sample population were smaller than the CDC 2000 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) standards. In terms of nutritional status, the prevalence of stunting and underweight was greatest in the age group 11 to 13 years, whilst the prevalence of wasting was highest in the age group 5 to 7 years. But for refractive errors, all diseases are more frequent in children, but only anaemia and rickets have a statistically meaningful gender gap. Children born in collective households, infants whose mom's schooling was [below than or equivalent to] 6th grade, and infants of working mothers were at a significantly higher risk of malnutrition.
Conclusion:
The majority of the school-age poor children in our sample were malnourished. Strategies including skills-based food and nutrition knowledge, nutritional fortification, proactive infection prevention, public healthcare staff preparation, and delivery of comprehensive services are encouraged.