Malnutrition among Tribal Preschool Children of Paschimanchal, West Bengal, India: A review

Background:   In India, one million children die before they reach aged 5 years, most of them from treatable or preventable diseases and nutrition-related factors contribute to half of child deaths.   Objectives: This review work was conducted to evaluate the overall prevalence of wasting, underweight, and stunting among tribal preschool children of Paschimanchal area in West Bengal, India. Methods: This review work searched published data from 2008 to 2020 by using search engines like Google, Google Scholar and PubMed, following keyword as ‘underweight, stunting, wasting, nutritional status and tribe, respectively. A total of 16 studies have been identified where WHO and NCHS standard were used to assess malnutrition among tribal preschool children. Out of, 9 studies were found eligible and included in the present analysis. Results: A total of 1683 sample from 9 studies were included in the present analysis. The overall prevalence of wasting, underweight, and stunting among tribal preschool children was found to be 19.8% (95% CI: 17.9 to 21.8), 45.9% (95% CI: 43.5 - 48.3), and 44.2% (95% CI: 41.8 - 46.6), respectively.    Conclusion: As per WHO, rate of malnutrition of tribal preschool children is found very high in Paschimanchal area. To improve their nutritional status the community health workers may identify severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) based on MUAC< 11.5cm and <12.5 cm and refer to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) for better management.