Assessing the prevalence of malnutrition in tribal children using MUAC as a screening tool

Children malnutrition is a major public health problem in India. Malnutrition has the maximum impact on children living in rural and tribal areas. Various anthropometric indices such as weight–for-age, height-for-age, weight-for- height and Body Mass Index (BMI) are used to assess the nutritional status of the children. Mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) is being used as an alternative to traditional measurements like height and weight, particularly in emergency settings. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended MUAC to be used as an independent diagnostic criterion for assessing severe acute malnutrition among children. A total of 4502 children between 6-59 months of age were screened over a period of 12 months, in seven Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Project mobile clinic sites located in states of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh border areas in India. MUAC was measured with MSF-designed fiber optic measuring tapes. In general, the overall prevalence of malnutrition among 6-59 months children was 15.2%. However the prevalence of malnutrition was higher among children of 6-23 months age group (25.8%) as compared to children of 24-59 months (5.4%). Despite various national nutritional intervention programs have been in operation for about four decades, the malnutrition remains very high particularly among the children living in hilly and remote tribal villages.