Developing Child Malnutrition Vulnerability Spatial Model for Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka

Child vulnerability in terms of malnutrition is one of the burning issues in the DS level in Batticaloa District. Even though, many child health programmes have been introduced (both government and non-government) still child malnutrition is prevalent in many DS divisions of Batticaloa District mainly rely on Anthropometric, Geographical and Socio- economic factors. The study focuses on the development of a vulnerability index for child malnutrition age under 5 at DS divisional level of Batticaloa District. The index was derived using Principal Component Analysis using Secondary data related to nutritional and poverty factors. This GIS technique supports the mapping needs of the malnutrition distribution among DS divisions in Batticaloa District. The final vulnerability map was compared with the poverty map of the District and the combined map can be used as a spatial model for further studies related to child nutritional and health sector.