| Abstract: | The nutritional status of 584 preschool children in an urban slum of Srinagar district was assessed through interviews of mothers conducted in a house-to-house survey, the clinical assessment of child nutritional status, and the anthropometric measurement of the children using accepted standard techniques. The anthropometric measurements of the children were compared to the 50th percentile of the Harvard Standard, while the classification recommended by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics was adopted for the categorization and grading of protein energy malnutrition. 60.45% of the children were malnourished, comprised of 33.22%, 20.89%, and 6.34% of children with grade I, II, and III degrees of malnutrition, respectively. Higher prevalence of malnutrition is associated with higher age, female sex, lower per capita income, higher birth order, and lower parental literacy. Parental literacy status followed by birth order and per capita income were the most important factors associated with preschool child malnutrition. |
