| Summary: | Context: Nutritional status is a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition. There is a growing realization that adequate nutrition is a necessary first step in the improvement of quality of life. Malnutrition and infection are connected by a vicious cycle. It is one of the greatest international health problems and the biggest challenges being faced today. Thus, to know the magnitude of undernutrition among preschool children and to find out the sensitive tool for detection of undernutrition, this study was conducted among children under - 5 years of age. Aims: To assess the validity of the nutritional indices for screening malnutrition. Settings and Designs: The study was a community-based, cross-sectional survey carried out in the catchment area of Rural Health Training Center, Rohilkhand Medical College, Bareilly. Subjects and Methods: Various anthropometric criteria like, Kanawati, McLaren, Rao, Dugdale and weight for age according to the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) (modified Gomez) classification were used to define nutritional status. Statistical Analysis Used: Data were entered and analyzed in SPSS and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves (sensitivity vs. 1 - specificity) were calculated for all the above mentioned indices. Results: Age dependent criteria such as IAP (48.2% malnourished) and McLaren (48.3% malnourished) were followed by the age independent criteria such as Kanawati (74.3% malnourished), Dugdale (45.5% malnourished), and Rao (33.1% malnourished) to classify the mild to moderate malnutrition. ROC showed Dugdale as the best index for the judgement of malnutrition showing maximum area under the curve. Conclusions: Malnutrition being a public health problem leads to morbidity which is a vicious cycle and needs proper attention to curb its detrimental effect on the children.
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