Malnutrition and its Associated Factors among Slum Living Adolescents in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Malnutrition is one of the major public health problems worldwide. Adolescence is known
to be a second opportunity for growth as it facilitates catch-up growth for children
experiencing nutritional deficits in their early life. The present paper examines the
prevalence and risk factors of nutritional status among adolescents (12-19) living in the
slums of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, using a cross-sectional study of 590 sample households
in 2015. As a part of this investigation, adolescents’ underweight and stunting status were
examined to determine nutritional status using the WHO growth reference. This study
performed bivariate analyses to elucidate differentials in nutritional status and fitted
logistic regression models to examine the effect of different socio-economic factors on the
likelihood of an adolescent’s malnutrition status. About 46 per cent of the adolescents
exhibited stunted growth and 10 per cent were severely stunted. About one-fourth of the
respondents were underweight and 7 per cent were severely underweight. Reinforcing the
existing public health programmes is critical for enhancing the nutritional level among
adolescents. Further, school, community and media-based programmes need to become
effective platforms to reach adolescents at a stage in their lives when lifelong nutrition
patterns are formed.