Anthropometric Profile of the Children Admitted to Tertiary Healthcare Centre and its Association with Maternal Education and Occupation: A Retrospective Observational Study

Introduction: In the recently published National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data, Anand district’s performance was not promising in terms of nutrition of mother and child; and being the only tertiary care teaching hospital in the district, there is a need to generate the study data. Aim: To evaluate the anthropometric profile of paediatric patients across different age groups at a Tertiary Care Centre, and to study its association with maternal education and occupation. Also, to compare the anthropometry indicators of NFHS-5 of Anand district with anthropometry of hospitalised children. Materials and Methods: The present retrospective observational study was conducted at the Department of Paediatrics of Pramukhswami Medical College and Shree Krishna Hospital in Anand district in Gujarat state between January 2023 to December 2023. A total of 1099 patients admitted under the Paediatric Department between the age groups of one month to 18 years in the Paediatric Ward and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit were included. All pertinent baseline details and their anthropometry were measured and plotted on World Health Organisation (WHO) and Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) growth charts. Expected age values were calculated, and Z-scores were determined for classification. Mothers were also surveyed about their education and employment status. The Chi-square test was used to study the association between maternal education and occupation, and the Z-test for proportion compared results with NFHS 5 data. Results: A total of 1099 paediatric patients were admitted during the study period. The median (Q1,Q3) age of study cohort was 67(21,137) months and males were 651(59.24%). Among all patients, 70% were stunted and 85% were underweight. Data for children under 5 significantly differed from NFHS-5 data (p