摘要：The anthropometric measurements (height, weight and mid upper arm circumference) of
children of working mothers in the age group of 12 to 60 months show a closeness in the values
relating to urban and rural children although the males had higher values than females in all the age
groups. The average Gomez percentage taking all the age groups combined were 91.59 and 86.95 in
males against 95.54 and 91.99 in females in urban and rural children respectively. The mean Gomez
percentage in relation to religion, caste, income, maternal education and mother¡¯s employment reveals
a significant difference among Hindus and higher and middle caste children. Prevalence of malnutrition
was observed among children of illiterate, lower income group and lower caste group mothers. The
percentage of children under malnourished group varied from 21 to 27 as per Body-Mass index, 27 to
31 as per mid-arm circumference, 15 to 17 as per Dougdale¡¯s index and 10 to 12 as per Gomez classification.
Exclusive breast-feeding beyond six months resulted in a higher percentage of malnourished children
in both urban and rural area. Differences are also observed with regard to total duration of breastfeeding
and age of introduction of supplementary food. The results of the present investigation is
encouraging with regards to the infant feeding practices and prevalence of malnourished children in
comparison to Orissan average.
关键词：Anthropometric measurements; nutritional indices; preschool children; exclusive breast
feeding; duration of breast feeding; working mothers
