Nutrition Status Based on mid Upper Arm Circumference among Urban, Poor Preschool Children in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India

The study of nutritional status based on mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) among pre-school children in India is very limited. Therefore, a study was carried out from February to June 2006 in three municipal wards of the North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India, to determine the nutritional status based on MUAC among urban, poor pre-school children. Undernutrition was defined based on ageand sex-specific MUAC cut-off values as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1995 and 2007. A total of 899 children, 57.5% boys and 42.5% girls, aged 1-5 years were measured randomly and included in the present analysis. Th e overall proportion of undernutrition was 77.8%, of which 52.9 and 24.9% children were moderately and severely undernourished, respectively, using WHO 1995 MUAC cut-off values. Similarly, the rate of undernutrition was 69.8%, of which 43.9 and 25.9% children were moderately and severely undernourished, respectively, when the WHO 2007 MUAC cut-off points were used. Th e prevalence of undernutrition was signifi cantly higher among boys than girls when using either of the cut-off values. Overall, about 9% and 7% of boys and girls, respectively, were overestimated as undernourished by the WHO 1995 cut-off s, as compared to the WHO 2007 cut-off s. In conclusion, the overall prevalence of undernutrition among these children was very high, indicating a critical situation. Th erefore, respective authorities should take initiatives to utilize low-cost methods such as MUAC for identifying children at risk for acute malnutrition at an early age. Such studies may assist policymakers in the formulation of appropriate measures to combat child undernutrition at the national level.