Prevalence of thinness among the adolescent girls (age group 13yrs-18yrs) of Garhkhal Village of Himachal Pradesh, India.

Abstract

Malnutrition has now been redefined in terms of “under nutrition” and conceptualized in terms of thinness which is an important problem among children and adolescents in rural areas of developing countries like India. Therefore, present study was carried out to assess the prevalence of thinness among the adolescent girls (age group 13yrs-18yrs) of Garhkhal Village of Himachal Pradesh, India. The study design was cross-sectional. Height and weight were measured and Body Mass Index (BMI) was carried out. Identification of thinness was done according to the new International BMI-based classification cut offs as given by Cole et al., 2007. In general the mean BMI increased with increasing age. Overall age-combined prevalence was 79.5%. Present study indicated the poor health status of the adolescent girls of the selected area which indicates the high nutritional stress among them as evident from the thinness prevalent among them.