National Journal of Community Medicine│Volume 11│Issue 3│March 2020 Page 122 ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE pISSN 0976 3325│eISSN 2229 6816 Open Access Article www.njcmindia.org DOI: 10.5455/njcm.20200424065415 Factors Associated with under nutrition among 6-59 Months Old Children in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand Abu Rehan 1 , Surekha Kishore 2 , Mahendra Singh 3 , Bhavna Jain 4 , Rukhsar Parveen 5 Financial Support: None declared Conflict of Interest: None declared Copy Right: The Journal retains the copyrights of this article. However, re- production is permissible with due ac- knowledgement of the source. How to cite this article: Rehan A, Kishore S, Singh M, Jain B, Parveen R. Factors Associated with under nutrition among 6-59 Months Old Children in Rishikesh, Uttarak- hand. Natl J Community Med 2020;11(3):122-127 Author’s Affiliation: 1 Junior Resident; 2 Professor; 3 Assistant Professor; 4 Senior Resident, Communi- ty and Family Medicine, AIIMS Rishi- kesh, Rishikesh; 5 Medical Officer, CHC Jwalapur, Jwalapur Correspondence Dr. Abu Rehan rehanabu975@gmail.com Date of Submission: 24-02-2020 Date of Acceptance: 30-03-2020 Date of Publication: 31-03-2020 ABSTRACT Context: Under nutrition has long been a major public health con- cern in developing country like India as a leading cause of child morbidity and mortality. The study was aimed to assess the mal- nutrition and factors associated with it. The study was conducted to assess under nutrition in under five children and various asso- ciated factors affecting it. Methodology A community based cross sectional study was con- ducted among 400 under five children of rural and urban Rishi- kesh. Multistage sampling method was used to select the areas and systematic random sampling was used to select households. A predesigned, pre tested & semi structured questionnaire was used to collect information on various associated factors and status of under nutrition in study participants. Data was entered into excel sheets and analyzed using SPSS utilizing appropriate statistical test. Results: The prevalence of underweight was 37.3%, stunting was 43.3% and wasting was 24.5% respectively. Socio-demographic factors, child birth weight and birth order, hand washing practice by mother and common morbidity emerged as significant predic- tors of under nutrition. Conclusion: The burden of common morbidities and prevalence of malnutrition among under-five children in this community is very high. Our policies should aim to improve child health nutrition and growth. Key wards: Under nutrition, Socioeconomic factors, Diarrhea, ARI INTRODUCTION The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that malnutrition causes 1 million child mortality which share 54 percent of total child mortality worldwide and childhood Under nutrition is the cause for about 35% of all deaths of children under the age of five years worldwide. 1 Deficiencies are not only the result of inadequate dietary intake but diseases can impair absorption of nutrients and re- duce appetite. Around one third of deaths among under five children are related to under nutrition. Low birth weight is also associated with increased morbidity and mortality and about 60 to 80 per cent of neonatal deaths occur among low birth weight babies. 2 Short duration of intervals in be- tween pregnancies and having so many children may cause nutrition deficits. Poor growth can be aggravated by increase in episode of infectious diseases like diarrhea, upper respiratory tract in- fection, fever and infestation with intestinal worms. Under nutrition weakens the immune sys- tem which leads to recurrent common childhood infections and put child on greater risk of death. A child who is severely underweight is 9.5 times and severely stunted 4.6 times are more likely to die due to diarrhea than a child who is not. 3 In Utta- rakhand, as per National family health survey-4