Assessment of Nutritional Status and Its Correlates among Adolescent Girls of Haryana, India - Abstract
Assessment of nutritional status of a population using most appropriate growth chart is essential to establishitshealth status and for administering timely interventions. This study
aimed to assess the nutritional status and its correlates among adolescent girls and to ascertain the suitable growth chart/reference to estimate undernutrition among them. The
cross-sectional sample consisted of 1045 adolescent girls of scheduled caste category aged 9 to 17 years of District Yamunanagar, Haryana. Weight and height were measured to calculate Body Mass Index. Hemoglobin level of the girls was measured using Sahli’s acid haematin technique. Dietary habits, socio-demographic and micro-environmental variables were recorded using structured questionnaire. Nutritional status was evaluated with the help of BMI using different standards. Anaemic status was assessed using WHO (1968) classification. Correlates of nutritional status were investigated using Chi square test. According to CDC (2000), classification, 44.3% girls were underweight, 54.4% normal and 1.3% girls were overweight. Using IAP (2015), classification, 82.9% girls were normal; 14.5% thin; 2.3% overweight and 0.3% were obese. According to WHO (2007), reference data, 68.1% girls were stunted while 67.1% girls revealed wasting. 91.1% girls were found to be anaemic. Mother’s educational status and consumption of homemade food by the girls showed significant association with the nutritional status of the girls. ROC analysis revealed IAP (2015), to be the most suitable for assessment of undernutrition among adolescent girls as compared to the other two criteria which overestimated the prevalence of thinness among them.