Impact of Maternal Body Mass Index and Intervening Mechanism on Rural-Urban Child Stunting: A Comparative Study Among Under Five Children in North 24 Parganas District of West Bengal.

It is commonly observed that poor access to food, especially during maternity and lactation, leads to under-nutrition and increases the probability of premature birth, anaemia amongst mothers and childhood stunting. This study investigates the correlation and aims to determine the relationship between childhood stunting and maternal underweight in specific rural and urban zones within the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Primary data was collected through in-person interviews with checked and approved questionnaires during April- August 2023. A child aged one to fifty-nine months was selected randomly from each family to take part in the study. The Binary logistic regression model was used to investigate the impact of maternal body mass index (BMI) on rural-urban child stunting, long term nutritional deficit. A total of 860 children from both urban (430) and rural (430) backgrounds participated in the study. This study found a slight difference in the rate of stunting. The prevalence of stunting remains high at 9 percent in the urban zone and 11percent in the rural region. The study infers that addressing maternal malnutrition and educating and empowering women will improve access to family planning while reducing childhood stunting. Therefore, implementation of dietary, counselling, delivery transportation, and child spacing is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]