Stunting, Underweight and Wasting Among Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme Children Aged 6 Months – 5 Years of Urban Surat, Western Gujarat, India

Introduction: Nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 are attributable to under nutrition; under nutrition increases morbidity and delays recovery. Objective: To investigate age and gender variations in height and weight, levels of stunting, underweight and wasting among children under 5 years in Surat city. Methodology: Levels of stunting, underweight and wasting among 970 children of urban Surat from 20 Anganwadi centers were assessed. Z-scores were used to assess the prevalence of malnutrition following the WHO Guidelines. Results: Results revealed that as age increased, the mean weight and height also increased. However, even the prevalence of malnutrition increased. Older children met lower percentages of the standards than younger children. The overall (age and sex combined) rates of stunting, underweight and wasting were 39.27%, 38.14% and 20.41%, respectively. The rates of underweight and wasting were significantly higher among boys (underweight = 38.73 %, wasting = 22.31 %) compared with girls (underweight = 37.57%, wasting = 18.78 %). Conclusion: The nutritional status of the subjects of the present study is not satisfactory, there is a scope for improvement in the form of enhanced supplementary nutrition. Therefore, it is imperative that the ICDS authorities consider its enhancement.