Anthropometry in adolescent girls in Kingston, Jamaica

Abstract

There is little information on the nutritional status of adolescents in developing countries. In particular there is a lack of data concerning black adolescents. We measured height, weight, and triceps and subscapular skinfolds in 452 13-14-year-old girls, randomly selected from those attending nine schools in Kingston, Jamaica. The girls' heights and body mass indices were appropriate for their age. This suggests that undernutrition was not a significant problem in this population. However, the girls' skinfolds were smaller than the US references, both those for the total population and those for blacks only. The fat pattern (triceps/subscapular ratio) was similar to that reported for adult black women in the United States. It is possible that the levels of fat in the references are not appropriate for this population. Data from other black populations are needed for comparison.

Nutritional status of 11–12-year-old Jamaican children: coexistence of under- and overnutrition in early adolescence

“…These findings are plausible as a large number of dependants in a household limits the quality and quantity of household resources, including food, available for each child, and is generally accepted to be an index of poverty. Similar associations between socio-economic variables and anthropometry were seen in older adolescent girls (13 -14 years) in Kingston 6 .…”

School performance in adolescent Jamaican girls: associations with health, social and behavioural characteristics, and risk factors for dropout

“…3•1). Further details of the girls' anthropometry have been reported (Walker et al, 1996a). T he median haemoglobin level was 124 g/ l and 16% of the girls were classified as anaemic (Hb<115 g/ l).…”

Differences in body composition between pre-menarcheal and menarcheal Bengalee Hindu girls of Madhyamgram, West Bengal, India

“…PBF was computed following the standard sex-specific equation of Slaughter et al (1988) for girls aged 8-18 years. This equation has been used to estimate PBF among children of various ethnic groups (Walker et al, 1996;Sampei et al, 2003). FM (kg), FFM (kg), and FMI (kg/m 2 ) were computed following standard (VanItalie et al, 1990) formulae.…”