Nutritional Status of Adolescent Girls in Slums of Dibrugarh Town- A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

BACKGROUNDAdolescence is the important period of life when 35% of adult weight and 11-18% of adult height is acquired. But Adolescent girls (AGs) are particularly at high risk of malnutrition because of gender discrimination in distribution of, and access to, food within the family. Objective-To assess the prevalence of stunting and thinness among AGs in slums of Dibrugarh district of Assam and the factors influencing. MATERIALS AND METHODSA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in slums of Dibrugarh town of Assam among AGs between 10-19 years. Sample size was calculated to be 135. Two stage sampling was carried out. Firstly, out of 10 registered slums, 5 were selected randomly. Sample was divided proportionately between the 5 slums based on population. In second stage, AGs from each slum were selected by consecutive sampling. Nutritional status was determined using BMI and Height for age using WHO standard. RESULTSPrevalence of thinness among AGs was 28.89% and stunting 42.2%. Thinness was found to be significantly associated with educational qualification of father (p=0.045) and educational qualification of mother of AG (p=0.006). CONCLUSIONThinness and stunting among AGs in slums of Dibrugarh town was 28.89% and 42.2% respectively.