A Study on the Social Determinants Affecting Nutritional Status of the Children of Guwahati City, Assam

Abstract

The present study aims to understand the nutritional status of the pre-adolescent urban Guwahati boys and girls belonging to the age group of 6–10 years in relation to some social determinants such as parental education, parental occupation, family income, food habit, family type, and consumption of fast food. A total sample of 471 boys and girls going to the elite private schools of the city were collected cross-sectionally and measured for their stature and body weight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cutoff for body mass index was used to study the nutritional status. Result shows that the boys are more malnourished than the girls. On contrary, the girls are found to be more at risk of overweight but are also healthier than the boys. The relationship of parental education and nutritional status is found to be statistically significant at 5% level among the boys. Further, this was supported by multiple logistic regression analyses performed to understand the association between the nutritional status and the social determinants which shows significance in fathers’ education and underweight (odds ratio [OR] – 3.043) and overweight (OR – 4.612) at 5% level. Father’s occupation and nutritional status are also found to be significant with underweight (OR – 2.961) at 5% level for the same. Maternal occupation and fast-food consumption are also found to be significantly associated with the nutritional status of the children. It may, therefore, be concluded that the nutritional status of the boys and girls is dependent on a number of social factors, thus making them vulnerable to malnutrition.