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Abstract
Background: The present cross-sectional study evaluates the utility of the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) over conventional nutritional indices for nutritional assessment. It also assesses the impact of various socio-economic and demographic factors on the CIAF.
Subjects and methods: Height, weight, age, socio-economic and demographic data were recorded from 3444 children (1682 boys; 1762 girls) aged 1–12 years and residing in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. The conventional anthropometric indices and CIAF were compared with the NCHS reference data to assess prevalence of under-nutrition. A multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the impact of different socio-economic and demographic variables on the CIAF.
Results: Prevalence of under-nutrition was observed to be 21.5% (wasting), 43.3% (stunting) and 52.0% (underweight). This increased to 63.6% using the CIAF. The multinomial logistic regression odds showed that children suffering from double and multiple failures were significantly associated with the socio-economic and demographic variables.
Conclusion: The CIAF provides more precision in identifying the nutritionally vulnerable segment of the population. The disaggregation of CIAF has an adequate potential to enhance the efficacy of a nutritional intervention programme by identifying double or multiple failures.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the help and co-operation of the primary schools, ICDS and local Gram Panchayet authorities of the Phansidewa block and Atharakhai block from where the data were collected.
Declaration of interest: This study has been supported by a financial grant of the University Grants Commission, Government of India [UGC-Ref. No. 129/ (NET-June 2007)]. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.