Prevalence of Malnutrition in School Going Children (6-10 yrs old) of Semi Urban Areas in Lucknow District – A cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: School going children represent a nation's future, and their dietary needs are vital for society's well-being. Addressing this issue could be a critical step in breaking the vicious intergenerational cycle of hunger, chronic diseases, and poverty. Objectives: To study malnourishment children in the selected of Lucknow District. To collected data regarding malnourishment children (Socio, demographic data) and of selected respond. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was carried out from February to march, 2022 among 6-10 year old government primary school children in semi urban, sector-6, block C, Rajajipuram Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh , India. A total of 40 study participants were chosen by systematic random sampling. The information collected in the pre-designed questionnaire was utilised to investigate the prevalence of under nutrition as defined by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP). MS Excel Spreadsheet version 2007 was used for statistical analysis. Clinical status assessing anemia was also recorded. Results: There were 40 females in every 100 children. 46 (47.5%) of the children were of average weight for their age. Malnutrition was discovered in 60 percent of the people. Under nutrition, the most prevalent grade was I (27.5%) followed by Grade II (17.5%) and Grade III (7.5%). None of the study participants had Grade IV under nutrition. Breathlessness and fatigue were reported by 22.5 and 20% of the participants, respectively. Poor anthropometric indices, undernutrition, and iron deficiency anaemia may be caused by a lower-than-recommended food and nutrient intake. Conclusions: Nutrition education plays an important role in helping the children adopt healthy and hygienic dietary practices. The most pressing requirement is to give sanitary and nutritious food to children so that our country's future generation can grow up healthy and disease-free.