Thinness Among Rural Children in Bengal

Objective. To assess the prevalence of thinness among 2-6 year old children of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme Bali-Gram Panchayat, Hooghly, West Bengal, India. Methods. Height and weight measurements were taken. The body mass index (BMI) was computed. The new international cut-off points classification proposed by Cole et al were utilized to identify thinness. Results. The overall (age-combined) mean BMI among boys and girls were 13.2 kg/m(2) (sd = 1.7) and 13.0 kg/m(2) (1.6), respectively. Mean BMI decreased from 2 to 5 years in both sexes. There were a significant (p < 0.05) sex difference in mean BMI (t = 2.57) at age 3 years. The overall (age-combined) prevalence of thinness among boys and girls were 84.8 % and 85.6 %, respectively. Conclusion. The results of the present study clearly indicates that the nutritional status of these children is of concern. [Indian J Pediatr 2009; 76 (8) : 817-819] E-mail: banda@vsnl.net