Diet and nutritional status of rural preschool children in Punjab.

OBJECTIVE: To assess diet and nutritional profile of rural preschool children of Punjab. STUDY DESIGN: Multistage random sampling method was adopted by following probability proportion to population size (PPS). SUBJECT: Four hundred households (HH) were covered in each district of Punjab for socio-economic and demographic information. All the available individuals from these HHs were included for anthropometry and clinical examination. Every fourth household was covered for 24-hour recall method of diet survey (individual dietary intake). RESULTS: At the state level, the intake of macro and micronutrient rich foods such as cereals, pulses and green leafy vegetables, milk and milk products and fats and oils were lower than the RDI among preschool children. Except for protein, calcium and thiamine, the mean intake of all the nutrients was lower than the recommended level. About a half of the preschool children (50.3%) were undernourished (> 2SD weight for age); 60% were stunted (> 2SD height for age) and 12% were wasted (> 2SD weight for height). The extent of undernutrition and stunting was lower than that reported for the country. There was significant variation in the prevalence of severe stunting between the districts (p < 0.001), with the highest being observed in the Rupnagar (55%) and the lowest in Hoshiarpur and Sangrur (30% each). CONCLUSION: Despite, the reported high rates of economic growth and food production in the state, a higher proportion of preschool children were consuming diets, which are inadequate with respect to energy, fat, iron, riboflavin, vitamin A and vitamin C. The prevalence of undernutrition was high as was found in other states.