AUTHOR=Khura Bikash , Mohanty Parimala , Gandhi Aravind P , Patnaik Lipilekha , Mewara Abhishek , Pradhan KeertiBhusan , Padhi Bijaya Kumar 

TITLE=Mapping Concurrent Wasting and Stunting Among Children Under Five in India: A Multilevel Analysis

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 68 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2023.1605654

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2023.1605654

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Wasting and stunting are global public health problems that frequently co-exist and their interactions need to be explored. The study aims to examine the coexisting forms, patterns, and predictors of coexisting Wasting & Stunting (WaSt) among under-five children in India. We used NFHS data for understanding the trend and association of WaSt among under-five children in India. The association was determined using multilevel regression. The proportion of WaSt children climbed rapidly from 6 to 18 months, peaked at 19 months (8%), then dropped after 24 months. In comparison to children of different birth orders, those in the higher birth order are 1.2 times more likely to be involved in WaSt cases (aOR=1.20, 95%  CI=1.09, 1.33). Mother education strongly correlates with WaSt instances, and children of more educated mothers have a 47% lower chance of having WaSt cases (aOR=0.63, 95% CI=0.57, 0.71). Children from wealthy families are 52% less likely to be WaSt cases(aOR=0.48, 95% CI=0.43, 0.55). This study emphasizes the importance of concurrent wasting and stunting and its link with socioeconomic factors among under-five children in India.