Prevalence of undernutrition amongst children (6-9 years) in Delhi.

Limited data is available on the qualitative distribution of undernutrition amongst children 6-9 years of age in National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. We conducted a study to provide an answer. Keeping in view the anticipated underweight prevalence of 50% a confidence interval of 95% relative precision of 10% and a design effect of two a sample size of 768 children was calculated. Thirty schools/ clusters were selected using ‘population proportionate to size’ cluster sampling methodology. In the identified schools children were briefed about the objectives of the study and informed consent was taken. In each school (cluster) a minimum of 30 children were enrolled for the study. Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were recorded for each child using SECA electronic weighing scale and anthropometric height rod respectively. The three indices of nutritional status i.e. weight for age height for age and weight for height were expressed in standard deviation untis (z scores) from the National Council of Health Statistics (NCHS) median as specified by World Health Organization using the anthropac software. (excerpt)