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VOL. 13, ISSUE 1 (2026)
An evaluation of inter district disparities in child nutrition outcomes across fourteen districts of Kerala, A district wise correlation analysis using NFHS-5 Data
Authors
Divya B Kunnath, Dr. V Jacquline Raja Bai
Abstract
Even though Kerala has
shown rapid improvements in health care access and services, the inter district
disparities in Kerala with respect to health care is a matter of great concern.
The present study focuses mainly on three child malnutrition indicators namely
stunting, wasting and underweight across the fourteen districts of Kerala. The
study utilized the NFHS data on the above-mentioned indicators and the data on
health indicators such as Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Neonatal Mortality Rate
(NMR) and the percentage of children full immunized. The main objectives of the
study were to examine the inter district disparities with respect to the child
nutrition across the districts in Kerala and to identify high performing and
low performing districts. The study also tried to analyze whether there was any
correlation between the health indicators such as IMR, NMR and the selected
malnutrition indicators of the study using Spearman Rank Correlation. District
wise analysis was made to identify the variations in the child malnutrition indicators.
The findings of the study highlighted significant variations in the child
nutrition outcomes across the fourteen districts of Kerala. The study revealed
that the districts such as Malappuram and Wayanad shows high percentage of stunted,
wasted and underweight children where as the districts such as Ernakulam,
Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha shows better child nutrition outcomes. Correlation
results showed a significant negative association between percentage of
children fully immunized and the percentage of children stunted across the
districts and also strong positive correlation between the various malnutrition
indicators. The study indicates the prevalence of malnutrition in certain
districts of Kerala and highlights the significance of district wise policies
and nutrition programme especially in the identified low performing vulnerable
districts to reduce malnutrition among children and also the critical role of
health nutrition programme such as Integrated Child Development Services,
Poshan Abhiyaan etc. in eliminating the child chronic and acute malnutrition.
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Pages:531-534
How to cite this article:
Divya B Kunnath, Dr. V Jacquline Raja Bai "An evaluation of inter district disparities in child nutrition outcomes across fourteen districts of Kerala, A district wise correlation analysis using NFHS-5 Data". International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, Vol 13, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 531-534
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