Prevalence of Thinness among Santal Preschool Children Using New Body Mass Index Cut-Off Points

Abstract

A community-based cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of undernutrition using body mass index (BMI) among 2–6-year Santal preschool children of Purulia District, West Bengal, India. A total of 251 (116 boys and 135 girls) children from 12 villages were measured. Commonly used indicators, that is, weight, height, and BMI, were used to evaluate the nutritional status. More boys (59.5%) than girls (53.3%), based on BMI, were undernourished. Significant age differences in weight ( F = 44.29 ∗ ∗ ∗ ; d f = 3 ), height ( F = 58.48 ∗ ∗ ∗ ; d f = 3 ), and BMI ( F = 3.52 ∗ ∗ ∗ ; d f = 3 ) among boys were observed. Similarly, significant differences between ages in mean weight ( F = 56.27 ∗ ∗ ∗ ; d f = 3 ), height ( F = 64.76 ∗ ∗ ∗ ; d f = 3 ), and BMI ( F = 2.62 ∗ ∗ ∗ ; d f = 3 ) were observed among the girls. The present study revealed that the nutritional status of the preschool children of Santal tribal community of these villages was poor with very high rate of thinness in boys and girls (59.5% and 53.3%, resp.).