Urban Poor in India: the Burden of Child Malnutrition

Rivaling drought-hit Ethiopia in its proportion of stunting, India holds 45% of children under 5 as victims of persistent malnutrition. The situation has barely improved over two decades and even worsened among urban poor, whose numbers are exploding and already count 95 billion as per 2011 census. Child malnutrition being a multicausal condition, the present study aims at unveiling a wide range of determinants at individual, mother, and household level. By focusing on children under 3, when effects of malnutrition are still reversible, a sample of 691 children was drawn from the latest Family Health Survey of India (NFHS-3, 2005-2006). Ordered logistic regression was run both on stunting and underweight levels. Child nutritional status appears to be highly dependent upon mother nutritional status and her capacity of breastfeeding. Findings also show that child malnutrition among urban poor emerges early (6-12 months) and keeps worsening with age, indicating insufficient medical supervision. The cruel lack of diversity in the child’s diet is not compensated by access to food assistance or vitamin supplementation, which seem to be mainly out of reach of urban poor. Moreover, poor water and sanitation play a significant role, revealing the necessity to fight the multiple causes of child malnutrition in an integrated manner.