Thinness Among Hill Kharia Children and Adolescents of Purulia Using Body Mass Index Cut-Off Points

Abstract

Children and adolescents are in the transitional phase when they are ready for adulthood. Scanty information on nutritional status of tribal children and adolescents, using the new internationally accepted body mass index (BMI) cut-off values, is available, particularly from rural areas in India. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of undernutrition using BMI among 4 18-year-old Hill Kharia children and adolescents of Purulia District, West Bengal, India. A total of 136 (71 boys and 65 girls) children and adolescents aged 4 to 18 years from three villages was studied. Commonly used indicators, i.e., weight, height, and BMI, were used to evaluate nutritional status. The overall prevalence of thinness was 52.2 and 53.8% among boys and girls respectively. The prevalence of thinness (Gd-III, Gd-II, and Gd-I) was 33.8, 9.9, and 8.5% among boys and 32.3, 7.7, and 13.8% among girls respectively, based on the new international thinness cut-offs. The prevalence of thinness was higher among the girls than their male counterparts. The prevalence of the grade-I thinness was more among both boys and girls with the new international cut-offs. Hill Kharia children and adolescents of both sexes were observed to be under serious and critical nutritional stress.

Keywords: Body Mass Index, boys, girls, thinness