Background: Nutrition in early childhood is of utmost importance specifically for first 1000 days. (1) If in this phase nutrition is neglected, it drags the child into the trap of malnutrition. Aims & Objectives: The objectives were:  assess the nutritional status of children and identify the risk factors related to malnutrition in children (1-3) years. Methods & Material: Descriptive exploratory design- conducted in rural villages of Haldwani block, Uttarakhand. Multi stage random sampling technique was used to select 703 children of (1-3) years and their mothers. The children were screened for malnutrition and mothers were interviewed via semi – structured interview schedule. Results: It was found that, 74(11%) children were undernourished, 28 (3.9%) were wasted in mild category and 11 (1.5%) in moderate category. About 87 (12%) were found to be stunted in mild to moderate category. Children below 2.5kg at birth [(1.106, 3.817), p= 0.023], non-initiation of breast feed in one hour [(0.979, 3.344), p=0.055], delayed initiation of weaning [(1.162,4.026), p=0.013] and recurrent illness [(1.187,3.447), p=0.009] were factors associated with malnutrition in children at 95% CI. Conclusion: It is very important to follow up the identified malnourished children so that in the preschool age the nutritional status can be improved.

Background: Intranatal care refers to care given throughout the process of all four stages of labor and is important for both mother and newborn. Safe delivery practice and compliance to intranatal care protocol by trained staff nurses is essential. The objectives were to identify the intra-natal care practices of staff nurses, compare intranatal care practices among the three selected hospitals and explore the barriers to compliance of intranatal care practices by staff nurses.Methods: Cross-sectional observation design was used for the present study. The study was conducted in two phases to fulfil the objectives. Three hospitals were conveniently selected and about 42 delivery events were observed in phase I and 15 staff nurses were interviewed through semi-structured interview schedule to identify the barriers to compliance in phase II.Results: It was found that majority of 8 (57.1%) staff nurses were in the age group of (25-42) years and maximum 13 (86.7%) staff nurses had attended training program related to intranatal care practices. In majority 24 (57.1%) deliveries, sterile technique for vaginal examination was not followed, in 33 (78.6%) deliveries cord pulsation was not assessed and in 39 (92.9%) deliveries baby was not placed on mother’s chest. Lack of required facilities leading to referral and non-cooperation of women during procedures were some identified barriers.Conclusions: The present study findings revealed that the intranatal care practices were inappropriate, they were missing most essential practices that might harm to the mother or baby in future.

Food!! The word food itself holds a very important role in everyones lives. The food we eat gives us the needed energy to pursue our daily activities and gives us the necessary strength to help boost our immunity. The importance of an adequate nutrition for children below three years cannot be ignored or cut short. The early nutrition practices in a childs life decides, the how the latter years of life turn out. Therefore, it should be a fundamental right of a child to have good nutritional practices from day one. Exclusive breast feeding since very long has been emphasized upon by Governments of various countries, medical practitioners and other involved in maternal and child health sector. If a child gets exclusive breast feed for six months, experts believe that it helps a child to grow healthy and also contributes to overall development of the child. Healthy Nutritional practices play a vital role in health of children especially in children below three years. Healthy nutritional practices are like the steps of a ladder, the stronger the steps the better is the climb for the child. Mothers or the primary care givers are like poles of the ladder which holds the steps together. Therefore, educating a mother or primary care giver about healthy nutritional practices becomes utmost necessity for any society.

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A healthy individual makes up a healthy community, a healthy state and a healthy country. As the saying goes – “Health is Wealth”. So, health is something which cannot be ignored. In order to maintain health, one needs to take into consideration the nutritional needs of the body and this is of utmost importance especially during the early phase of growth periods in children. Our country is facing problem of malnutrition in children which is of alarming concern and inspite of numerous projects planned by the government of our country still the bane of malnutrition prevails. There needs to be an additional intervention planned at grassroot level keeping in consideration every geographical terrain, cultural and ethnic practices in related to feeding and rearing. This will not only help in combatting the problem of malnutrition but will also keep the mother and family of child aware of nutrition status of their children. The need to strengthening our policies and services at grassroot level is of prime concern as a lot policies and services are only limited to the documents.