Aim: To assess the association of father’s education and occupation with children growth measured by height-for-age z-scores and BMI-for-age z-scores in a patriarchal culture where father’s social position is considered more important than mother’s social position. Sample and methods: The present cross-sectional study consists of 387 school-going girls aged 9-14 years residing in Matigara, Siliguri sub-division of Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. Information on age, mother’s education, father’s education, ethnic affiliation, mother’s occupation, father’s occupation, house type, household monthly income and family size were recorded. Associations between variables were assessed using Spearman correlation, St. Nicolas house analysis (SNHA), and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with box plots. Results: The hypothesis that in a patriarchy paternal socio-economic status (SES) influences children growth more than maternal SES was not supported. The observed correlation between mother education and measure of growth (BAZ and HAZ) was, 0.15 and 0.13, respectively. SNHA showed direct connection between HAZ of girls and mother education. Further, using ANOVA significant difference in the HAZ of adolescents was observed between least educated mothers and moderately educated mothers (F = 6.593; p < 0.01). No such difference between the maternal education levels was observed for BAZ.  Conclusion: Maternal education is an important factor influencing children linear growth even in a patriarchy. The association was independent of nutrition. Common explanations are functional literacy, decision making, access to information and health infrastructure, and less domestic violence. Mother’s education may influence perceived future prospects of the daughters, and could be an important stimulus for growth.

Background Asian Indians often get predisposed to non-communicable diseases for which the "thin-fat" or "hidden obese" Indian phenotype is usually regarded responsible. In Europe, America and in some low-middle-income countries (LMICs) short height is often associated with a high risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Indians and particularly tribal Indian people are relatively short. Aim To assess the associations of height with MetS risk factors among tribal people of India. Sample and methods This study was conducted among tribes of India under life-style transition. The height range was 163.2 cm to 156.5 cm (males) and 151.6 cm to 146.9 cm (females). The participants were 1066 men and 1090 women aged between 20 and 60 years. Anthropometric and metabolic markers included in the study were height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), skinfolds (biceps, triceps, sub-scapular, and supra-iliacal), fasting blood glucose (FBG), blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and pulse rate (PR). ResultsThe highest correlation existed between height and WC (male: 0.21; female: 0.15). Correlations of body composition variables (BMI, WC, skinfolds) with MetS risk factors (FBG, SBP, DBP, PR) were not reliable (r < 0.30) among both sexes. St. Nicolas House Analysis revealed WC among males and WC and sub-scapular skinfolds among females sharing more connections with other nodes variables. Conclusions Unlike the people of the wealthy and often obese social strata of low-middle-income countries, and in Europe and North America, height of tribal Indian populations is not associated with metabolic risk factors, such as hypertension, elevated fasting blood sugar, and central obesity. Rather than linked to the phenotype, obesity appears to be associated with an obesogenic environment. Public health policy should focus on problems associated with obesogenic environments.Take home message for students Short body height cannot predispose individuals to MetS risk factors in the absence of an obesogenic environment.