Gowri Shankar

Abstract

Introduction: Among adolescents, girls are a doubly vulnerable group due to deep-rooted gender discrimination and other socio-cultural factors that are prevailing in our Indian society. Objective: To study the factors influencing body mass index of adolescent girls residing in the urban field practice area of S. N. Medical College, Bagalkot. Study design: A Community based cross sectional study. Setting: Field practice area of urban health training center, Department of Community Medicine, S. Nijalingappa Medical College in Bagalkot. Participants: 400 unmarried adolescent girls. Sampling: Systematic random sampling. Statistical Analysis: Data was tabulated in Microsoft Excel 2010 and analyzed by using Open Epi software. P-value was calculated using chi-square test and difference was accepted significant at more than 95% (p-value Results: Factors significantly associated with thinness were mother’s literacy, family size, mid day meal and dietary intake less than RDA (p Conclusion: It was concluded that the prevalence of thinness was significantly high in girls whose mothers were illiterates. Thinness was also seen in girls from large families and  Dietary intake less than RDA. Keywords: Adolescent girls, Body mass index (BMI), Thinness, Urban area.

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Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence is a period of rapid growth & maturity, both physiologically & psychologically. Adult weight of 35% & 11-18% of adult height is acquired during adolescent age. Nutrition has a key role to support this rapid growth and development. Objective of the study: To assess nutritional status among first semester adolescents of a Polytechnic College in North Karnataka. Methodology: All the new admissions of a polytechnic college in North Karnataka for the year 2015 were included in the study after Ethical Clearance and permission from the Principal of the college. Age of each student was determined by date of birth. Weight was recorded by a portable weighing machine without footwear. The standing height was recorded by asking the student to stand against the wall, heels together without shoes. The height was measured with the help of a flexible measuring tape graduated in centimeters and inches. Body mass index was calculated using the formula weight in kilogram/Height in metre.2 Each student classified according to WHO BMI for age and Height for age. Data was analyzed using percentages and Fischer exact test. Results: Out of 307 admissions of 2015, 214 (69.71%) were boys and 93 (30.29%) were girls. Majority (69.71%) were between 17 - 19 years and 25.08% were between 15 - 16 years. Students > 20 years were 5.21%. Out of 291 adolescent students between 15 - 19 years, thinness was observed in 24.74% and severe thinness in 19.59%. Regarding height for age, stunting was observed in 18.90% and severe stunting in 2.06%. Conclusion: National nutrition mission could be the only answer to solve thinness and stunting in adolescents. Keywords: Stunting, Thinness, Adolescents.

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