Nutritional Status of Pre-School Children Attending Anganwadi Centres in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India

Background: Good nutrition is essential for attainment of normal growth and development of children. We cannot hope for a healthy future for India with such a large number of malnourished children. The aim of this study is to assess the nutritional status of pre-school children attending anganwadi centres of urban and rural areas. Materials and Methods: Non experimental research approach with descriptive and comparative research design. Simple random sampling technique used to select the sample size of 100 pre-school children nutritional status assessed by anthropometric measurements and clinical signs check list. The urban and rural areas children were assessed and compared. Results: Pre-school children in urban areas the mean weight is at the 5 percentile of NCHS standards in rural areas majority children mean weight is at below the 5 percentile of NCHS standards. Age, gender and family income was found to be significant for both urban and rural children. Conclusion: The data shows that there is a significant difference between the nutritional status of pre-school children belong to urban and rural areas.