Assessment of Health Status of Tribal Children One Year after Getting Treated at Malnutrition Treatment Centers in an aspirational District of Rajasthan, India

According to UNICEF, under-nutrition is the cause of nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 years of age. This is equivalent to the loss of about 3 million young lives a year. Malnutrition elevates the potential of dying from common infections and recovery is delayed. In India, there has been a decline in the percentage of children who are underweight from 42.5 % in NFHS-3 (National Family Health Survey) to 35.7 % in NFHS-4, and children who are stunted from 48 % in NFHS-3 to 38 % in NFHS-4, the magnitude of malnutrition is still high. In Rajasthan, 38.4 per cent of the children under the age group of 5 years are reported to be underweight. The demographic groups such as children from Schedule Tribes has the largest prevalence of severe acute malnutrition compared to children from other communities due to lack of resources and fair opportunities. This study was conducted to find the factors influencing the nutritional status of tribal children after being discharged from Malnutrition Treatment Centers, with an objective to assess the present nutritional status of children undergone MTCs treatment in the district of Rajsamand and to study the factors affecting the health status of the children in their natural environment after one year from community-based follow-up and discharge from in-patient care. Out of 35 children, almost 63 % of children were presently malnourished, with only 37 % of them being in the normal category.23 % of them were Severely Acute Malnourished, whereas 40 % of the children in the MAM category even after having undergone the treatment in MTCs. The factors responsible for rebound malnourishment were found out to be the gender of the child, number of home visits of the Anganwadi staff, number of siblings and the family members and the presence of the livestock in the close vicinity of the child.