Effects of Dietary Intervention on Nutritional Status of Severely Undernourished Preschoolers from Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

The effectiveness of nutrition intervention in severely undernourished preschool children at child development centers and during subsequent follow ups was studied. ICDS survey 2008, for under nutrition among preschoolers was conducted. Admitting severely undernourished children to Child Development Centres (CDCs) with their mothers / care takers for 2-3 weeks was undertaken. Correction of morbidities by using health protocol of WHO, training for preparation of supplementary foods from locally available raw materials and recipes, feeding of children and recording observations on nutritional improvements at CDC and subsequent follow ups upto 30 months was studied. All 14 tahasils of Ahmednagar district, India, 0-6 y preschoolers were included in this study. The application of health and nutrition protocol to severely undernourished children at CDC for 2-3 weeks and subsequent follow up showed marked improvements in their weight gain, IAP grades and SD classification parameters. A continued follow up for extended period is however essential to eliminate the under nutrition in these children.