Original Article Indian J Pediatr 1998; 65 : 565-572 II Tamil Nadu Nutritional Survey Comparing Children Aged 0-3 Years with the NCHS/CDC Reference Population Rajaratnam Abel and V. Sampathkumar RUHSA Department, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Tamil Nadu Abstract : A cross-sectional nutritional survey of children belonging to Tamil Nadu State of India, aged 0-3 years was conducted on a representative sample of 2039 children. The collected data was analysed using the recommended indices of height-for-age and weight-for-height based on standard deviation (SD scores) and cross-classified using the SD scores. The nutritional status of these children was compared with the NCHS standard. Prevalence of stunting (27.6%), wasting (9.9%) and simultaneous wasting and stunting (10.7%) was high among the children studied: (Indian J Pediatr 1998; 65 : 565-572) Key Words : Nutritional status; Stunting; Wasting. Protein-energy-malnutrition (PEM) still re- mains a major public health problem in most of the developing countries, India be- ing one with a high prevalence of PEM. 1 PEM among children is known to cause permanent stunting besides affecting their mental performance. 2 PEM prevails among populations with poor socio-economic conditions (poverty). These populations are characterised by low levels of income, inadequate diets, poor levels of education, poor environmental sanitation and housing conditions, large family size and high prevalence of morbid- ity and clinical signs of undernutrition. In 1979 WHO had launched its strategy and campaign of health for all by the year 2000. 3 One of the indicators identified by them to gauge the health progress was the nutritional status of pre-school children. Reprint requests : Dr. Rajaratnam Abel, RUH- SA Department Christian Medical College and Hospital, RUHSA Campus P.O. 632 209, North Arcot Ambedkar District, Tamil Nadu, India. Previously prevalence of malnutrition among pre-school children was assessed using weight-for-age as criteria. However, use of weight-for-age criteria alone cannot distinguish acute from chronic malnutri- tion. In 1976, a Joint FAO/UNICEF/WHO Expert Committee recommended the use of height-for-age and weight-for-height as primary indicators of nutritional status of children. 4 Besides, Waterlow et al suggested a method of nutritional classification that facilitated comparison of results of surveys carried out in different regions or at differ- ent times and recommended the use of height-for-age (as an indicator of past mal- nutrition) and weight-for-height (as an in- dicator of the present status). ~ They also recommended that nutritional data from the National Centre for Health Statistics/ Centres for Disease Control (NCHS/CDC) reference population 6 would be most ap- propriate for making international com- parisons. This was subsequently endorsed by WHO. 7