Prevalence of Underweight, Stunting and Wasting

The z-score classification system was used to assess the prevalence of underweight stunting and wasting in 630 children under 6 years of age from two urban slums in Delhi India. Z-scores for weight-for-age height-for-age and weight-for-height were calculated with US National Center for Health Statistics reference data as standards. According to the weight-for-age criteria 57.6% of children were undernourished and 20.3% fell under Grade II of z-score scales. 53.0% of children were stunted and 22.5% were wasted. Stunting was most prevalent in the 48-59 month age group while underweight occurred most often among children 24-35 months old and the highest prevalence of wasting was observed in the second year of life. An analysis of 24-hour dietary intake recall data on a subsample of 225 children revealed that the underweight wasted and stunted children had significantly lower energy and protein intakes than normal children (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates that the z-score classification system recommended by the World Health Organization for assessing the nutritional status of preschool children is a feasible methodology in this population.