Double Burden of Malnutrition in Mother and Child Pairs in an Urban Resettlement Colony of East Delhi: A Cross-sectional Study.

CONTEXT: The simultaneous presence of undernutrition along with overweight or obesity is known as the double burden of malnutrition (DBM). In mother-child pairs, DBM can manifest as either an undernourished child with an overnourished mother or an undernourished mother with an overnourished child. To study the prevalence of DBM in mother and child pairs in an urban resettlement colony of East Delhi. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 mother-child pairs in an urban resettlement colony of East Delhi. Data was collected by house-to-house visits using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were recorded. Classification of nutritional status of children was conducted according to World Health Organization (WHO) child growth standards. Anthro Plus-software 2009 (WHO) was used for calculating anthropometric parameters. The weight for age, height for age and weight for height z-scores in children were computed. The data were summarized using frequencies and proportions. The P-value was calculated to assess the association between two categorical variables. RESULTS: Among children, 43% were underweight, 46% were stunted, and 20% were wasted. Among mothers, 24% were overweight and 4% obese, while 18.4% were thin. The prevalence of DBM was observed as underweight child-overweight mother (UC-OM) 9.6%, stunted child-overweight mother (SC-OM) 12.8%, and wasted child-overweight mother (WC-OM) 4.8%. The overall prevalence of DBM in any form among mother-child pairs was 15.2%. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for integrated nutrition strategies addressing both undernutrition in children and overnutrition in mothers within the same household.