Study on Prevalence of Malnutrition among Infants (6-12 Months) in Urban Udaipur (Rajasthan)

Nutritional status in children is most vulnerable during the weaning stages when both macro and micro nutrients may be insufficient to maintain growth and development .The present study was undertaken to discover the prevalence of malnutrition among the children (6-12 months) Data on demography and socio-economic aspects were collected on a total of 50 children i.e. using interviewing their mother. Anthropometric measurements were taken to assess the nutritional status. All the measurements were taken following standard techniques. The major findings were as follows: Out of 50 respondents, the degree of malnutrition was higher mainly in boys rather than girls in case of weight for age, head and chest circumference. Classification based on height for age shows that out of 50 respondents most of the subjects 78 per cent were short heighted. only 22 subjects were in normal category. Similar result of some studies showed that more per cent of male subjects suffered from different grades of malnutrition than female subjects. Possible reasons may be that mothers are not giving proper attention to the child due to working outside. Mostly mothers left their children at Anganwadi centre. Mothers have to be educated about the importance of breast feeding, proper time to start weaning, advice against indulging in harmful feeding practice. A health and nutrition survey must be conducted at proper intervals.