International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | January 2024 | Vol 11 | Issue 1 Page 214 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Sengar V et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2024 Jan;11(1):214-221 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article Transition in determinants of maternal malnutrition in India over a period of two decades Vijayata Sengar*, Gurkiran Kaur INTRODUCTION Maternal nutrition plays a critical role in improving pregnancy outcome and unlike other factors, such as heredity or pre-existing conditions; the nutritional status is amenable to change. 1 Maternal health is a major concern, central to sustainable growth, and key to future generations. 2 Because maternal malnutrition has intergenerational consequences, women's nutrition must be dealt with quite early in life. 3 BMI (body mass index), a simple index of weight-to- height is commonly used to classify underweight, overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters (kg/m 2 ). 4 The majority studies have looked at the determinants at a specific time or over a short time interval. An in-depth understanding of the transition in the determinants, if any will help in understanding the prospective changes in the future. ABSTRACT Background: In-depth understanding of the transition in the determinants, will aid in comprehending the potential changes in the future, reducing adverse outcomes and supporting ongoing nutrition and health programmes. Most of the studies have studied the determinants at a particular point in time, making it crucial to understand how these determinants have transitioned with the passing years. The present study was conducted to assess the transition in determinants of maternal malnutrition in India over a period of two decades by secondary data analysis using data from national family and health surveys. Methods: For the present exploratory study, secondary data for India was obtained from the DHS program. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 20 and above. Thinness [body mass index (BMI) <18.5 kg/m²] was used as the dependent variable. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to ascertain the effects of selected characteristics on the dependent variable and to identify transition in determinants over two decades by comparing the datasets. Results: Determinants of thinness like the place of residence, parity and partner’s occupation remained the same for the first decade however, changed in the last decade to socioeconomic status (OR 4.6: 95% CI [4.2-5.1]), age (OR 4.4: 95% CI [3.7-5.2]) and anemia levels (OR 2.3: 95% CI [2.0-2.7]). Conclusions: The trend clearly indicates that the focus of government programs and policies needs to change and implies that a holistic approach is necessary for improvement. Keywords: Maternal determinants, Maternal malnutrition, NFHS, Thinness, Women’s health Department of Foods and Nutrition, Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India Received: 18 October 2023 Revised: 29 November 2023 Accepted: 01 December 2023 *Correspondence: Dr. Vijayata Sengar, E-mail: vijayata.sengar-fn@msubaroda.ac.in Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20234128