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The double burden of malnutrition: an assessment of ‘stunted child and overweight/obese mother (SCOWT) pairs’ in Kerala households

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Abstract

A double burden of malnutrition (DBM) is the coexistence of under-nutrition and over-nutrition in a single household that has been reported from many developing countries. We performed a secondary analysis on India Human Development Survey (IHDS-II) data assessing ‘stunted child and overweight/obese mother (SCOWT) pairs’ in Kerala households. We included 344 pairs of children below 5 years of age and their mothers, with anthropometric measurements. We also performed the Pearson’s Chi–square test to study the association of SCOWT pairs with socio-economic variables. The prevalence of SCOWT pairs was 10.7% for Kerala. The bivariate analysis showed no significant association for SCOWT pairs, irrespective of their socio-economic status. It is clear that the DBM is prevalent in Kerala and cannot be addressed exclusively by policies focusing on over-nutrition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central University of Kerala, Periya, Kasaragod, India

    Rajeev Jayalakshmi

  2. Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Medical College PO, Trivandrum, 659011, India

    Rajeev Jayalakshmi & Srinivasan Kannan

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Jayalakshmi, R., Kannan, S. The double burden of malnutrition: an assessment of ‘stunted child and overweight/obese mother (SCOWT) pairs’ in Kerala households. J Public Health Pol 40, 342–350 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-019-00172-7

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