ABSTRACT
The determinants, both the immediate and underlying, are discussed in the context of undernutrition in children in India as follows. Inadequate food and nutrients are immediate factors of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in children and contribute to malnutrition throughout the life cycle. Poor dietary intake, the immediate determinant of child undernutrition, is influenced by many factors such as poor access to food, purchasing power and education of mothers, lack of knowledge and inappropriate feeding practices of infants and young children. Compared to an average adult, a one-year-old has approximately two to four times energy, protein, and fat requirements per kilogram of body weight. However, poverty resulting in poor purchasing power of the family and poor access to food by the family is not the sole cause of undernutrition in children. Determinants of undernutrition among children are multidimensional in nature and need to be analysed in terms of immediate and underlying determinants.
