THE PREVALENCE OF MALNUTRITION AMONG PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE RURALAREAS OF HAZARIBAGH DISTRICT OF JHARKHAND

Background: Malnutrition is a pathological condition resulting from the relative or absolute deficiency or excess of one or more essential nutrients. It poses a public health problem in the world and especially in developing countries. Malnutrition among under-five children is a major public health problem in India reflected by the fact that the prevalence of under-weight children in India is among the highest in the world, is nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: ADescriptive Research among preschool children from rural (gramin) areas of 4 Blocks (Tehsils) in Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand. The study was conducted among selected government Anganwadi centres during January to June 2023. The investigator adopted Probability Sampling. A simple questionnaire was given to the parents to get the socio-demographic information from the parents. Results: Among 4560 child cases surveyed, 400 cases of malnutrition were found and remaining 4160 child cases were found normal. Prevalence of malnutrition was found 8.77% in Rural Areas of Western Chotanagpur Plateau of Hazaribagh District (Jharkhand). The study revealed BMI was directly proportional to the family income whereas BMI decreased with the increase of family size with increased number of children. BMI increased with respect to the increase of parental education and BMI was increasing with increasing number of meals per day among the children and children from nuclear family were more prone to malnutrition. Conclusion: Malnutrition is a multi-dimensional entity. The nutritional status of children under the age of five is affected by different factors. Malnutrition is a fairly wide-spread and complex problem that poses a serious threat to life and India is home to the largest number of underweight and stunted children in the world. As the quality of the future human resources depends on the children of today, improvement of their nutritional level should be given top priority.