Co-occurrences of forms of child undernutrition in India: insights from the National Family Health Survey

Arora, Pooja, Bhatia, Mrigesh ORCID: 0000-0001-9366-142X and Dwivedi, Laxmi Kant (2025) Co-occurrences of forms of child undernutrition in India: insights from the National Family Health Survey. Nutrients, 17 (6). ISSN 2072-6643

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Abstract

Background: The composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) studies co-occurrences of three forms of child undernutrition: stunting (S), wasting (W), and underweight (U). This study attempts to modify it through the inclusion of a fourth form of undernutrition, that is, anaemia (A), serving as a proxy for micronutrient deficiencies among under-five children in India. Methods: Spatial and multivariate analyses were employed to analyse the co-occurrences of child undernutrition with reference to the child’s and mother’s characteristics using National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data. Results: The modified index of “CIAF + Anaemia” identified thirteen manifestations of child undernutrition in India, the most prevalent co-occurrence being “only anaemia” (30%), followed by a triple burden or co-occurrence of stunting, underweight, and anaemia (SUA) (12%). The prevalence of the quadruple burden of child undernutrition (SWUA) was found to be highest in the states of Jharkhand and Gujarat (7%). A higher likelihood of the co-occurrence of “SUA” was observed among underweight mothers (16%), whereas that of “only anaemia” was observed more among overweight mothers (35%) compared to their counterparts. The co-occurrences “SUA” and “SWUA” were found to be moderately clustered among the districts of India. Conclusions: Overall, the study reinforces the need for early identification and specialised treatment approaches for children burdened with multiple forms of undernutrition to prevent its scarring effect.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 by the authors
Divisions:	Health Policy
Subjects:	R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Date Deposited:	17 Mar 2025 15:42
Last Modified:	25 Mar 2025 14:33
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127574

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