Anthropometric Measurements and Nutritional Status of U-5 Children in Selected Slum Areas of English Bazar Municipality of Malda District of West Bengal

The nutritional status of under-five children in selected slum areas of English Bazar Municipality is a perceptive pointer of health, financial system and the sustainable development of Malda District. The research study depicts the consequence i.e. related to anthropometric measurements and other related issues of nutritional status are taken of 336 children. The survey with a prepared Schedule was completed for the duration of 1st July, 2018 to 5th July, 2018 among 336 children aged between 0 to 5 years from different selected slum areas of English Bazar Municipality. As a basic section of this research, children’s Underweight status, Wasting and Stunting were examine in order to find out child nutritional status using the WHO growth standard and also Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) and Head Circumference were measured to determine nutritional status. To determine hypothesis statistical data analysis MS Excel software tools were used and WHO Anthro Software was used to determine the nutritional status of child compared to WHO Standards. Analysis results revealed underweight or weight-for-age (WAZ) (31.9%) as the most common form of malnutrition among children aged under-five, followed by wasted or weight-for-height (WHZ) status (30.3%), and stunting or height-for-age (HAZ) (29.6%). Similarly results revealed severely underweight (18.8%) as the most common form of malnutrition among children aged under-five, followed by severely wasted status (15.2%), and severely stunting (4.2%).