Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Northeastern Indian region has a high density of marginalised populations with a concerning quality of health services. We observed the trends in prevalence of infectious diseases and nutritional disorders among children under-five years from 2006 to 2020 in the Northeastern states. We also assessed the distribution of their burden by place of residence. METHODS: A secondary data analysis of select indicators on infectious diseases and nutritional disorders in seven Northeastern states across three rounds of the National Family Health Survey (2005-06, 2015-16, 2019-20) was undertaken. We calculated outcome indicator mean prevalence, relative change and average annual rates of reduction of the indicators. RESULTS: A significant relative reduction between 2006-2020 in the prevalence of diarrhoea (0.4 [95CI:0.7,0.1]) at p < 0.05; acute respiratory illness (ARI) (0.7 [95CI:0.1,0.4]), stunting (0.3 [95CI: 0.3,0.12]) and underweight (0.3 [95CI:0.5,0.2]) at p < 0.001 were noted. However, overweight prevalence increased (10.1[95CI:4.3,16.0, p < 0.001]) due to a low annual reduction rate. The highest annual reduction rates were observed in Sikkim and Tripura for diarrhoea and ARI respectively (>10.0%), and in Meghalaya for wasting and severely wasting (6.3%). Rural areas had a higher burden of stunting, wasting (including severe), underweight, anaemia and diarrhoea; overweight was seen in both rural and urban settings. CONCLUSION: Significant reductions were observed in ARI, diarrhoea, stunting and underweight prevalence between 2006-2020, with sub-regional variations and a greater burden in rural areas. During this period, overweight prevalence worsened; and anaemia showed a large increase from 2016. To reduce the equity-gap, programmes should be adapted to meet the differential needs of the Northeastern states.