BackgroundThe prevalence of malnutrition among children in developing countries is very high. As a step towards reducing the prevalence of malnutrition, there is a need to identify the important determinants of malnutrition in the specific population so that preventive and control measures can be implemented.The objective of the study is to determine the risk factors for malnutrition among preschool children in Rural Karnataka, South India.MethodsA case-control study was carried out among preschool children, aged between three to six years, attending the Anganwadi centers and their mothers’ in Udupi district of Karnataka, India. A total of 570 children (190 cases and 380 controls) were selected by multistage cluster sampling technique. A semi-structured risk factors questionnaire was used to identify the risk factors for malnutrition among children.ResultsThe majority (45.8 and 45.5%) of the children in the study were in the age group of 3.0 to 4.0 years in case and control groups respectively. There was a slight preponderance of illiterate parents among cases in comparison to the controls. Largely, 87.4% of the children belonged to poor socio-economic status in the case groups compared to 82.4% in the control group. After adjusting for the confounders, underweight was significantly associated with socio-economic status of the parents (aOR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.06, 3.96), birth weight < 2000 g (aOR: 25, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.59), recurrent diarrhoea (aOR: 2.74, 95% CI: 1.56, 4.83), recurrent cold and cough (aOR: 3.88, 95% CI: 1.96, 7.67), worm infestation (aOR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.19, 3.38) and prelacteal feed given (aOR: 3.64, 95% CI: 2.27, 5.86).ConclusionParental education, childhood illness, short birth interval, open defecation, type of weaning and complimentary food given to children were some of the significant determinants of underweight that were found in the study. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns alleviating food habits and taboos and promoting birth spacing is the need of the hour for preventing the occurrence of undernutrition among preschool children.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5124-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Background: Population explosion remains a major cause of concern in India. Although, the country became the first to implement a national population control programme in 1952, it is yet to effectively control its population growth. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess the utilization and barriers for nonutilization of contraceptives among slum resident married women of Udupi district, Karnataka, India between October 2017 to July 2018 The survey involved 323 married women aged 18-45 years. Data were generated using self-developed and validated questionnaire. Generated data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Results: The result of the study showed low utilization of contraceptives at 38.7%. Leading barriers for nonutilization are fear of side effects (65.2%), followed by desire for girl/boy child (31.3%), husbands' disapproval (25.8%), followed by 17.7% no family support (in-laws), lack of knowledge about contraceptive methods (25.3%), and lack of personal interest to use contraceptives (23.2%). The most frequently used method was tubectomy (73.6%). Copper T (14.4%) and male condom (8.0%) were predominant method among the temporary family planning methods used by the study population. Conclusions: The low contraceptive rate might be attributed by fear of side effects, desire for girl/boy child, husbands' and family (in-law) disapproval, lack of knowledge about contraceptive methods and lack of motivation to use. Education, encouragement of health education programs and involvement of the spouse and inlaws might promote contraceptive utilization in slum dwellers.

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Childhood malnutrition impairs health, development, and productivity in adulthood. Underweight children have been found to have a variety of cognitive abnormalities. The present study examined the effect of a nutrition-focused intervention on cognitive development among malnourished preschool children between 3 and 5 years of age residing in selected villages of Udupi district, Karnataka. A cluster of 12 villages was chosen randomly. The trial had enrolled preschool children (n = 253) from randomly assigned selected villages to intervention (n = 127) and control arms (n = 126). The mothers in the intervention arm received nutrition-focused intervention and reinforcement of health teaching for 12 months. The post-intervention outcome on the cognitive development of malnourished children was measured at 6 months and 12 months. Statistical analyses indicated that 52% of children in the intervention group had average cognitive development scores on the pre-test, whereas on the post-test, only 5.5% were in the average level of cognitive development. In the control group, the average cognitive development status of the children decreased from 44.4% in the pretest to 26.2% in the post-test. The cognitive development of malnourished children in the intervention group improved compared to the control group (p < 0.001). This study revealed that home-based nutrition-focused food helps to enhance children’s cognitive development.Trial registration: ctri@gov.in. CTRI/31/03/2017/008273 [Registered on: 31/03/2017].