A Study to assess the Prevalence of Malnutrition among school going children in selected schools of Changsari, Kamrup (R), Assam

Background of The Study: Nutritional status is an important indicator to measure children quality of life. Malnutrition is the main global health problem of children which affects large number of children in developing countries and atleast half of all childhood death and one third of child death are due to under-nutrition only. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of malnutrition andfind the association of malnutrition with selected demographic variables among school going children in selected schools of Changsari, Kamrup (R), Assam. Methodology: A non-experimental quantitative research approach was adopted. The data was collected from selected schools of Changsari, Kamrup (R) Assam using non-probability convenient sampling technique among 120 school going children based on the inclusion criteria. Dataanalysis was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: Prevalence of malnutrition was found to be 21.96%. Significant association was found only between class, number of siblings, consuming evening snacks, number of meals per day and source of drinking water with malnutrition. Conclusion: The prevalence of malnutrition among school going children in selected schools of Changsari, Kamrup (R), Assam was mild. Primary care giver needs to implement strategies to educate the mothers of school going children regarding proper nutritious and balanced diet thereby reducing the mortality and morbidity due to malnutrition.