Contribution of Low Birth Weight to Childhood Malnutrition in India

Abstract Background Although Low birth weight (LBW) is an independent predictor of malnutrition, it is still a negligible public health issue in the Indian context. Where, a large number of children died due to complications from maternal and child malnutrition. Furthermore, each year, India loses its GDP due to the cost of micronutrient malnutrition which is more that the public health budget. MethodsTo conduct the study, 4th round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), a large-scale survey was used. The study used the last birth information (190,898) due to the detailed availability of maternal care information. The univariate and bivariate analysis was done to find out the percentage distribution. Further, a logistic regression was applied to examine the association between LBW and malnutrition (stunting, wasting, and underweight). The study also employed the Fairlie decomposition technique to estimate the contribution of LBW to malnutrition among Indian children. ResultsThe estimated result shows that childhood malnutrition was higher in most of the Empowered Action Group (EAG) states of India. Furthermore, the infant who was born with low birth weight was more likely to have stunted (OR=1.67; 95% CI: 1.60-1.75), wasting (OR=1.32; 95% CI: 1.26-1.39), and underweight (OR=1.44; 95% CI: 1.38-1.51) in their childhood as compared to infants with no low birth weight. The findings of the decomposition model explained 19 % of the difference in stunting, 12% in wasting, and 16% in underweight among the children born with low birth weight after controlling for background characteristics of the individuals. Other variables such as wealth status, mother’s education, height, mother’s age at birth, and sanitation facility were the significant contributors to childhood malnutrition in India. ConclusionsAlthough many nutrient-centric programmes are going on to control the nutrition status of children, the Indian government should focus more on control LBW. As LBW has a significant contribution to malnutrition, the study recommends that government should take all the necessary steps to implement and monitor some special schemes like the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) at the ground level to reduce the burden of LBW.