Browsing by Author "Pant, Smriti"
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Publication Nutritional Status and Its Associated Factors among Under-Five Children in Bidur Municipality, Nuwakot District, Nepal: A Secondary Data Analysis(Central Department of Public Health, 2024) Pradhan, Pranil Man Singh; Pant, Smriti; Shrestha, Gambhir; Karki, Namrata; Mikrani, Tanweer Ahmad; Joshi, Deepak Raj; Shrestha, Sushan Man; Basel, Prem; Karki, Khem B.Abstract Background: Undernutrition among under-five children is a major public health problem in Nepal. The study's main objective was to assess the nutritional status and its associated factors among under-5 children of Bidur Municipality, Nuwakot district using secondary data analysis. Methods: We analyzed the data of 667 under-five children from 3183 households collected from the Community Health Diagnosis 2023 program database stored in the Kobo toolbox. Nutritional status indicators were measured by using the WHO classification. The chi-square test was applied to find out the association of nutritional status with independent variables such as maternal age at marriage, age at first child, antenatal, delivery, and post-natal care, exclusive breastfeeding, complementary feeding practices, and immunization status. Results: Nearly 32% (95%CI: 28.3-35.8) of the children were stunted, 12.1% (95%CI: 9.7-14.7) wasted, and 13.9% (95%CI: 11.4-16.6) were underweight. Early age at marriage, less than four ANC visits by the mother, history of substance use during pregnancy, and not exclusively breastfeeding were significantly associated with different forms of undernutrition. Conclusion: Promotion of exclusive breastfeeding and a higher number of ANC visits and discouraging early-age marriage and substance use during pregnancy are necessary to prevent undernutrition in under-five children. Keywords: Malnutrition, Nepal, under-five childrenPublication Nutritional Status of Under-five Children and its Associated Factors in Dhulikhel Municipality, Kavrepalanchok, Nepal(Central Department of Public Health, 2025) Acharya, Indra; Acharya, Ambika; Pant, Smriti; Pradhan, Pranil Man SinghIntroduction: The nutritional status of children under five years is not only a crucial indicator of their present health status but also offers insight into socio-economic and other factors within a community. The study aimed to assess the nutrition status of under-five children with its associated factors and the household food security status in Dhulikhel municipality, Nepal Methods: This study was quantitative cross-sectional conducted among 323 under-five children in all 12 wards of Dhulikhel municipality. Face-to-face interviews were carried out with the mothers of under-five children using standard questionnaires, and anthropometric tools. Results: This study found that the prevalence of stunting, wasting, underweight, and overweight was 33.6%, 9.3%, 23.5%, and 14.5% respectively. Nearly 86.4% of the households of Dhulikhel municipality were food secure whereas 13.6% of the households were insecure. Availability of kitchen gardens showed a statistically significant association with a lower prevalence of wasting (6.2%) and underweight (18.6%). The proportion of stunting and underweight children was significantly higher (56.8% and 50% respectively) among households that were not food secure. Conclusion: Among the surveyed children, nearly half had at least one form of malnutrition. Food insecurity was associated with a higher prevalence of stunting and underweight. Availability of kitchen gardens was associated with a lower prevalence of wasting and underweight in this study. Food insecurity and agro-health-based programs must be considered while designing interventions to curb various forms of malnutrition.