Prevalence of double nutrition burden among adolescent girls of Assam, Northeast India

Abstract

Introduction: Prevalence of the malnutrition is a very common phenomenon in the developing countries leads to high mortality, morbidity and long-lasting physiologic effects. The present study was conducted among adolescent populations residing in rural regions with an aim to determine the prevalence of double nutritional burden (e.g., thinness and overweight) in Karbi-Anglong district of Assam, Northeast India. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 1228 heterogeneous groups of adolescent girls aged 10- 16 years residing in rural areas of Diphu, Karbi-Anglong, Assam is using simple random sampling method. The anthropometric measurement of height and weight were recorded using the standard procedure. The Body mass index (BMI=weight/height2, kg/m2) was calculated. Recently proposed, the BMI based agesex specific international references and cut-offs of Cole et al. was used to assess the prevalence of thinness and overweight. Results: The overall prevalence of overweight and thinness was found to be 8.13% and 19.14% respectively. The age specific prevalence of overweight and thinness was found to be higher among 11 years (12.00%) and 16 years (31.13%) respectively. Conclusion: The present study shows the magnitude of thinness is a still greater nutritional problem than overweight in rural adolescent girls in India. The results of the present study will be useful for the policy makers in their endeavour to formulate various developmental strategies and health care programmes of the population concern to combat the double burden of nutrition.