A cross-sectional study on undernutrition among under-5 children living in the rural area of Hyderabad

Background: Undernutrition is a silent emergency and one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among under-5 children throughout the world. A serious public health concern and can have significant effect on child’s overall growth and development. The prevalence of undernutrition is two folds higher among rural area compared with urban area, therefore present study aims to study the prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among under-5 children living in rural area of Hyderabad. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2023 to June 2023 in rural field practice area of a medical college in Hyderabad. A total of 364 under-5 children residing in study area were selected by simple random technique. Data about socio-demographic variables were collected by questionnaire and anthropometrics were measured using standard techniques. Results: In the present study, about 33% of under-5 children are underweight and 35% are stunted. The under-5 children belonged to lower socioeconomic class were significantly more likely to be underweight (40%) and stunted (42%). Family size >6 members were significantly underweight (48%) as well as stunted (47%). Children with low birth weight i.e. <2.5 kg had significantly higher rates of underweight (43%) as well as stunting (45%). Among the children with weaning age less than 6 months, 47% were underweight and 45.6% were stunted. Conclusions: Socio economic status, family size, birth weight, and weaning age are important determinants of undernutrition.