Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Nov;148(5):612-620.
doi: 10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1963_18.

Undernutrition in children & critical windows of opportunity in Indian context

R Hemalatha  1 , K V Radhakrishna  2 , B Naveen Kumar  3
Affiliations
Review

Undernutrition in children & critical windows of opportunity in Indian context

R Hemalatha et al. Indian J Med Res. 2018 Nov.

Abstract

It is intriguing to note that majority of the wasting among the under 5 yr in India is present at birth. The National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4) data analysis shows 31.9 per cent wasting at birth, which is decreasing to 17.7 per cent in the under five children; clearly suggesting that any reduction in wasting should come from improvement in foetal growth. In addition, children with both severe wasting and severe stunting, in whom the risk of mortality increases many folds, are <1 per cent in almost all the States; and these are the children in whom special care is required under the community-based management of severe acute malnutrition. This article presents an overview of nutrition status in children, their antecedents, and the critical phases; especially, nutrition status before pregnancy that plays a crucial role in all the nutrition status indicators of children. More attention on the critical phases is crucial to maximize the benefits from national programmes.

Keywords: 1000 days; dietary practices; growth faltering; preconception; pregnancy; stunting; wasting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Time trends in prevalence of nutritional indicators. NNMB, National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau; NFHS-4, National Family Health Survey 4. Source: Refs 3, 4.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Stunting, wasting and underweight in children from one month to five years of age. Source: Ref. 3.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean food intakes (g/day) among 1-6 yr children. National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau, Rural, Third Repeat survey, 2011-2012 and National nutrition monitoring bureau urban survey on ‘Diet and Nutritional Status of Urban Population in India and Prevalence of Obesity, Hypertension, Diabetes and Hyperlipidemia in Urban men and women’. 2015-2016, Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, Author's analysis and calculation. Source: Refs 4,19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Global Health Observatory (GHO) data: Health in 2015 from MDGs to SDGs. WHO: 2015. [accessed on October 23, 2018]. World Health Organization. Available from: http://www.who.int/gho/publications/mdgs-sdgs/en .
    1. Child growth standards: The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) WHO; 2018. [accessed on October 18, 2018]. World Health Organization. Available from: http://www.who.int/childgrowth/mgrs/en/
    1. National family health survey (NFHS-4), 2015-16. Mumbai: IIPS; 2017. International Institute for Population Sciences.
    1. Diet and nutritional status of rural population, prevalence of hypertension & diabetes among adults and infants & young child feeding practices - Report of Third Repeat Survey. Report No-26. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR; 2012. National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau.
    1. Mamidi RS, Rajkumar H, Radhakrishna KV, Babu JJ. Secular trends in heights and weights in boys and girls over 3 decades in rural India. Food Nutr Bull. 2016;37:425–38. - PubMed