A Population Based Study on ‘At-Risk’ Under 5 Children in Rural South-India Samya V.1,*, Stanly A Meriton2, Iyer Ramesh Harihara2 1Assistant Professor, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, Chennai 2Professor, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, Chennai *Corresponding Author: Dr. V. Samya, Assistant Professor, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, Chennai Email - vsamya@gmail.com, Ph - 9003027485
Online published on 13 November, 2019. Abstract Introduction Most of the childhood morbidities that occur under 5 years of age are preventable by taking very simple methods. Application of risk strategy in under-5 children help in improving the health-status and decreasing the childhood mortality. Aim To estimate the prevalence of ‘at-risk’ under 5 children in a rural area and to find out its associated factors. Materials and Method A population based cross-sectional study was undertaken in the rural area of Tamil Nadu. 370 children were selected by simple random sampling method. Results 55.9% of the children were at-risk (95% CI 53.32–58.48). Majority (66%) of the at-risk children were 37–48 months. Type of family (adjusted OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.3–3.5, p=0.003), type of housing (kutcha house: adjusted OR 6.3, 95%CI 2.7–14.8, p=0.000; semi pucca house: adjusted OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1–3.6, p=0.026), and personal hygiene of the primary care giver of the child (adjusted OR 3, 95% CI 1.9–4.8, p=0.000) were significantly associated with ‘at-risk’ under 5 children. Conclusion There is a high prevalence of ‘at-risk’ children, which indicates the need for risk approach in preventing the morbidity and mortality in under 5 children. Top Keywords Under 5 children, at-risk, prevalence. Top |