Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) among Sonowal Kachari tribal preschool children of flood effected region of Assam, India

Abstract

Undernutrition is considered to be a serious public health problem in most of the developing countries. Globally, the anthropometric measures are widely used to estimate the magnitude of undernutrition in children. The Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) provides the overall magnitude of undernutrition as an aggregate single measure over the conventional anthropometric indices and helps in identification of single or double or multiple anthropometric failures in preschool children. The present investigation assesses the age-sex specific prevalence of undernutrition using both conventional anthropometric measures and CIAF among Sonowal Kachari tribal preschool children of Assam, India. This cross-sectional investigation was carried out among 362 (162 boys and 190 girls) Sonowal Kachari tribal children younger than 5 years of flood affected regions of Lakhimpur district of Assam, India. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight were measured using standard procedures. Age-sex specific Z-score value of weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height were calculated by using WHO-Anthro, v. 3.2.2. A child Z-score <−2.00 of any anthropometric indices was considered to be undernourished and the standard CIAF classification was used to calculate the prevalence of undernutrition. The overall prevalence of wasting, underweight, stunting and CIAF was observed to be 11.6%, 22.9%, 36.2%, and 48.6%, respectively. The sex-specific prevalence of wasting (15.8% vs. 6.9%), underweight (30.5% vs. 14.5%) and stunting (42.1% vs. 29.6%) observed to be significantly higher among girls than boys (p<0.05). The girls (61.05%) were found to be more affected than boys (34.9%) by CIAF (p<0.01). The present investigation reported higher magnitude of undernutrition using CIAF over conventional anthropometric measures, hence the CIAF is relatively better indicator that reflects higher magnitude of undernourishment as compared to any conventional anthropometric indices in children. This research investigation has also reinforced the importance of appropriate intervention programme and strategies needed to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition in childhood and in population as a whole.

Socio-economic inequality in anthropometry failure in children under 5 years in India: Evidence from the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016–18

“…Similarly, studies conducted in Ethiopia 31 and Nepal 29 reported higher prevalence, whereas studies from Zimbabwe and Peru reported lower prevalence of CIAF 32 . The ndings of this study align with the ndings of previous studies 26,27,28,29 and show that stunting is the most prevalent type of undernutrition. These ndings suggest that 16.6% of children experienced both stunting and underweight, indicating the coexistence of both acute and chronic undernutrition and emphasizing the importance of a composite index to gauge the scale of undernutrition.…”

“…This study attempted to estimate the overall burden of child undernutrition at the national level by calculating CIAF and the factors contributing to the rich-poor gap in the prevalence of CIAF. The overall prevalence of CIAF was reported as 48.1%, which was in line with the estimates reported by studies conducted in Assam and Bangladesh 26,27 . However, studies conducted in states of Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh reported higher prevalence of CIAF [28][29][30] .…”

Determinants of Anthropometric Failure Among Tribal Children Younger than 5 Years of Age in Palghar, Maharashtra, India

“…26 This underscores that children in the critical age-group contribute to high burden of undernutrition among children younger than 5 years. Work done by Bharali et al 27 identified 51% CIAF among tribal children aged 2 to 5 years, lesser compared to our estimate, while Mandal and Bose 28 reported more than 70% manifestation of CIAF. In comparison to Z scores, CIAF draws attention to the greater proportion of the population who suffer from multiple manifestations of undernutrition.…”

Child Undernutrition in the States of India: An Analysis Based on Change in Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure from 2006 to 2016

“…Various scholars have used the CIAF among specific communities to understand undernutrition’s total prevalence. Bharali, Singh and Mondal (2019) constructed a CIAF to assess the spread of undernourishment among preschool children of the Sonowal Kachari tribe in a flood-affected region of Assam and reported a higher magnitude of undernutrition based on CIAF over conventional anthropometric measures. They observed the overall prevalence of wasting, underweight, stunting and CIAF to be 11.6%, 22.9%, 36.2% and 48.6%, respectively.…”

“…For Darjeeling District of West Bengal, Sen and Mondal (2012) calculated the percentage of children in group E + F as 34.1 and group B + C + D + Y as 29.5. Bharali et al (2019) calculated the percentage of children in group E + F as 34.2 and group B + C + D + Y as 14.4 in a study conducted among Sonowal Kachari preschool children of flood-affected areas of Assam. The pattern is similar for the northeastern states as a whole, as observed by Ao and Lhungdim (2014), where they calculated the percentage of children in group E + F as 38.8 and group B + C + D + Y as 17.2.…”