Malnutrition Research
In 2017, Calcutta Rescue began operations in Liluah Bhagar, a large slum in Northwest Kolkata. Following several exploratory visits one of which included a townhall meeting with community representatives, CR implemented a weekly clinic targeting child health in April 2018. A prospective survey of 150 children revealed that 66% of children aged five and under who visited the clinic were stunted.
CR developed a comprehensive nutritional intervention programme with the aim of sustainably reducing stunting. Led by two volunteer doctors from France, the programme started in December 2018 and recruited 70 children who were followed-up for a year. Results demonstrated a sustained reduction in stunting, and identified household income as the strongest predictor of poorer nutritional outcomes in this community.
The survey involved 150 children – 66% of which were stunted.
Results of this study were recently published in the Journal of Global Health Reports (Scopazzini MS, Raoult V, Kuruttuparambil S, Sulkers E. Prevalence of undernutrition and effectiveness of a community-based nutritional support programme to reverse stunting among children under five years of age in an urban slum in Kolkata, India: findings of a one-year longitudinal study. Journal of Global Health Reports. April 2021:e2021025).
The Malnutrition Programme is now set to be rolled out across different slum areas given CR’s recent successes in Liluah Bhagar. Collaboration with other NGO partners, such as NNedPro’s Mobile Teaching Kitchen Initiative, is set to start in the next year.
Research Lead
Dr. Marcello Scopazzini
Regional Infectious Diseases Unit, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK