Prevalence and Associative Factors of Protein Energy Malnutrition among the under Five Children

Abstract

Malnutrition is one of the world’s most serious but least-addressed development challenges. In 2019, 149 million children were stunted (low height-for-age), which indicates not only a failure to achieve one’s own genetic potential for height but is also a predictor of many other developmental constraints, including cognitive deficits and future economic opportunities, including impeding a country’s ability to accumulate human capital. The main objectives were to assess the prevalence rate of PEM among the under five age children and find out its associative factors. To correlate the prevalence of PEM with the selected demographic variables and compare its prevalence between under five children of selected rural and urban areas. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out for this study to assess the prevalence of PEM and its associative factors among the under-five children. Study was conducted in the rural areas (Munsad and Chovisi) and urban areas (Rustamvadi) of Navsari District. The areas were selected by probability cluster sampling method. Demographic data, anthropometric measurements such as height/length, weight, mid arm circumference were taken from all the under five children and BMI was calculated according to WHO standards and compared.