Current Issue (Vol 61, No. 1 | March, 2026)

Children have accounted for a high global burden of undernutrition in recent decades. It has been accepted that undernourished children have long-term negative impacts on their health, including a decline in intellectual and mental development as well as physical growth retardation. Maternal characteristics play a significant role in child malnutrition. The objective of the present study is to examine how the nutritional status of a child can be explained by maternal and child characteristics. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1035 (524 males and 511 females) preschool children aged 24-71 months from Maynaguri Block, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India. The results showed the prevalence of stunting and underweight among the children studied as 23.67% and 23.57% respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that factors such as mothers' age at marriage, BMI of the mothers, educational level of the mother, place of delivery, age of the child, birth weight of the children, number of siblings, family type, and family income have a strong relationship with child undernutrition. Appropriate intervention programs should focus on maternal and child characteristics that may lead the way to improve the nutritional status of undernourished children so as to reach their full potential during childhood.