Disparities in Child Growth Patterns: A Multi-Indicator Examination Across Districts in Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

The Indian economy is accelerating due to its significant demographic advantage of a young and growing workforce, emphasizing the importance of addressing malnutrition to fully harness its potential. Uttar Pradesh, blessed with a vast human resource pool in its children, stands poised to significantly contribute to shaping the nation's future. Thus, addressing child malnutrition within the state is imperative. Currently, according to NFHS 5 data, malnutrition prevalence among children under 5 years is alarming, with 39.7% experiencing stunting, 17.3% facing wasting, , and 32.1% being underweight. District-level data on child growth failure indices were sourced from NFHS-published district fact sheets of Uttar Pradesh. This study leverages data from two time periods within the NFHS series (NFHS-4 & NFHS-5) to assess changes in child growth indices at the district level. The spatial distribution of current child growth indices was visualized through thematic mapping. The findings highlight an uptick in stunted children across 7 districts, and both underweight and stunted children in 12 and 32 districts respectively in Uttar Pradesh. NFHS-5 data reveal that several districts in Uttar Pradesh still exhibit prevalence rates exceeding 50% for stunting, 20% for wasting, and 30% for underweight