Objectives To study the magnitude and determinants of growth faltering among 0–6 year's children in adopted villages of rural medical college.

Material and Methods A total 305 children of <6 years were followed monthly for 1 year to assess the growth faltering. At each visit, the mothers/caretaker of children were interviewed and information regarding immunisation, morbidity profile, dietary history and child feeding practices collected using a pre-tested interview schedule. Monthly anthropometric measurements of child were taken. Growth faltering has been defined as failure to gain weight or actual loss of weight, and weight gain <300 g over a period of three consecutive months.

Results The cumulative incidence of growth faltering among 0–6 years children was 930 per 1000 children per year (95% CI 900.8 to 959.2). The number of growth faltering episodes per child per year was 3.1 (95% CI 2.9 to 3.3). In the multivariate analysis we found presence of anaemia, presence of any illness & improper household ventilation as significant predictors of growth faltering.

Conclusion Our finding suggests more focus should be given on early detection and timely correction of growth faltering rather than just identification and treatment of severely malnourished children.