Morbidity pattern among women and children living in an urban slum

Sandhya S. Khadse; Ranjana B. Zade; Sundaram Kartikeyan

Volume : VII, Issue : VII, July - 2018

Morbidity pattern among women and children living in an urban slum

Sandhya S. Khadse, Ranjana B. Zade, Sundaram Kartikeyan

Abstract :

This cross–sectional descriptive study was conducted in an urban slum in Thane, Maharashtra, India. Women (n=64) with self–reported morbidity and symptomatic children (40 girls and 36 boys) were clinically examined and treated using the �camp approach�. The mean age of girls, boys, and women was 6.04 +/– 4.08 years, 4.49 +/– 2.88 years, and 34.52 +/– 10.01 years, respectively. The health problems in the examined children included upper respiratory infections, fever, loss of appetite, eye and ear–related problems and diarrhoea. out of the 51 under–five children examined, 72.55% were undernourished. Among women, reproductive health problems, anaemia, and musculoskeletal disorders predominated. Specific nutrition and health interventions for under–five children are necessary to combat under–nutrition, while community–based educational interventions for women would help overcome the social taboos attached to reproductive health problems.