Three groups of Saraswat Brahmans in Western India and a group of Goan Catholics ethnologically related to Saraswats were studied for various genetic markers. Saraswats have higher A than B with an Rh(D)-negative incidence ranging from 10 to 17%. All the groups have low incidence of G-6-PD deficiency (up to 1 %). Incidence of thalassaemia trait ranges from 1 to 6%. Gm(l) was present in 85–87%. Intergroup differences suggest genetic closeness between the various groups with genetic distance ranging from 0.8 to 1.5. Genetic relationship between Goan Catholics and Chitrapur Saraswats confirms the ethnological and historical evidence of relationship between the two groups.

Background: India is in a phase of nutrition transition. Child nutrition and growth monitoring services are provided under the state-run Integrated Child Development Scheme program. Classically, only one kind of growth chart is used to quantify nutrition status and categorize the children. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study involving 222 children was done to compare the outcome of nutritional status evaluated using three World Health Organization growth charts: weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height. The results obtained by the use of these three charts were further compared and analyzed for concordance. Results: The three growth charts showed that 58% of children were underweight, 53% had stunting, and 35% were wasted among the study population. The comparisons using sensitivity/specificity, Kappa statistics, and ANOVA showed bidirectional disagreements between the three charts. Similar results could be deduced from large surveys done previously in Iraq and Congo. Conclusion: Hence, simultaneous use of three growth charts to categorize nutrition status is essential. This will help in preventing missing out cases of malnutrition and perhaps may aid in detecting child malnutrition at a relatively earlier stage.