Comparison of household double burden of malnutrition among mother-child dyads in different settings in Maharashtra

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to assess and compare the household double burden of malnutrition among mother-child dyads in different settings in Maharashtra. A cross-sectional pilot survey was performed among 295 randomly selected mother-child dyads from 22 anganwadis. Urban households from three wards in Pune city, six villages from two tehsils in rural Pune, and ten villages from the tribal district of Palghar were randomly selected. Distribution of wasting was ‘very-high’ (37.7%) in the tribal settings, followed by urban settings which recorded ‘high’ wasting (13.7%) as per the severity threshold. Over 37% of the children manifested overweight and obesity. Stunting was high in urban areas (49.3%), while underweight was high in the tribal regions (>55.7%). Overweight and obesity among mothers in the urban setting (82%) was twice compared to the rural (42%). The overall prevalence of double burden of malnutrition was 19.7%. The double burden of malnutrition at the household level was high (46%) in urban households followed by rural (17%) and tribal settings (5.7%). Double-duty strategies at the community level are the need of the hour to curb the rising double burden across settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Double burden of malnutrition
• stunting
• wasting
• underweight
• overweight
• obesity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by The Africa India Mobility Fund -Wellcome Trust UK. AIMF [AAS/AIMF18/R.4/003].

Notes on contributors

Angeline Jeyakumar

Angeline Jeyakumar holds dual position as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Nutrition, University of Nevada, Reno and a Nutrition Specialist at the UNR Extension. She is the recipient of the Wellcome Trust AIMF award.

Swapnil Godbharle

Dr. Kesa, and Mr. Godbharle, from the University of Johannesburg, are the South African collaborators in the Grant. The team comprising Ms. Shambharkar, Ms. Bhalekar, Ms. Chalwadi, and Ms. George, served as research assistants at various points during the research period. Our work concentrates on nutrition transition specifically around the double and multiple burden of diseases.