1 Health and Population: Perspectives and Issues Vol. 33 (1), 1-9, 2010 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF UNDER-NUTRITION IN UNDER-5 YEARS CHILDREN IN AN URBAN SLUM OF LUDHIANA Paramita Sengupta*, Nina Philip** and A. I. Benjamin*** ABSTRACT To determine the prevalence and risk factors of under-nutrition amongst under-ive children living in an urban slum of Ludhiana, a cross-sectional survey of 200 randomly selected under-ive children was carried out. The selected samples were taken out of the total 1450 children living in Field Ganj, an urban slum area of Ludhiana, Punjab. The median weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height of the NCHS standard were used as reference anthropometric indices. The indings reveal that 74 per cent of the children were found to be stunted, 42 per cent of them wasted and 29.5 per cent of them were under-weight. Female children, children aged 48-59 months, children born to older mothers aged 30-49 years, children with >3 siblings, low birth weight, those exclusively breast-fed for >6 months or <4 months, having an illiterate mother or unskilled labourer father were observed to be at the highest risk of being under-nourished. Birth spacing of <2 years, incomplete vaccination status, frequent infections and worm infestation were also found to be important predisposing factors for childhood malnutrition. The study demonstrates the multiple risk factors for childhood malnutrition, requiring a multi-pronged and multi-sectoral approach in the ight against the silent killer of childhood malnutrition. Key Words: Under-ive, Under-nutrition, Urban slum, NCHS standard. Childhood and maternal under-nutrition is currently the single leading cause of the global burden of under-nutrition. In the year 2000, the fraction of total global health loss attributable to under-nutrition was 9.5 per cent while 14.9 per cent in high-mortality developing regions 1 . The global community has set a target of halving the prevalence of underweight children by 2015 as a key indicator of progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. During 1996- 2004, more than 26 per cent of the world’s under-ive years children were underweight for their age. The proportion ranged from one per cent in developed countries to 27 per cent in developing countries 2 . India is home to more than one-third of the world’s under-nourished children. PEM has been identiied as a major health and nutrition problem in India as well. It not only leads to childhood mortality and morbidity but also leads to permanent impairment of physical and possibly mental growth of those who survive 3 . In 2004, India had a prevalence of malnutrition in under-ive children with 47 per cent underweight, 16 per cent wasted and 46 per cent stunted 4 . The state of Punjab is one of the most afluent and developed states in the country. Along with Haryana, it contributes to more than half of the country’s central pool of grain. Yet the NFHS-2008 has shown an unacceptably *Associate Professor, drparamita25@indiatimes.com; **MBBS student, ***Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana – 141008, Punjab.