Manifestation of malnutrition among Sunni Muslim Girls of Delhi (6-12 years)

Background: Obesity and undernutrition are the opposite extremes on the scale of adiposity, both of which are the manifestation of malnutrition. Childhood obesity is a global epidemic involving both developed and developing countries. It is a state of over-nutrition with long term complications such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, and coronary artery disease and type-2 diabetes. Underweight is the result of under nutrition and conceptualized in term of thinness which is also an important problem among children of developing countries like India, leading to reduction in growth and development of every body organ especially the Central Nervous System. Long term under-nutrition causes failure in linear growth (height) of the child. Objective: To assess the nutritional status among Sunni Muslim girls based on recently developed body mass index (BMI) cut-off points for children and adolescents. Methods: The study subjects were selected from educational institutes of Delhi, India. A total of 370 girls aged 6-12 years were measured and included in the present study. Height and weight were measured and BMI was computed using standard formula. New age and sex specific international cut-off points were utilized to assess nutritional status. Result: In general, the mean BMI increased with increasing age. The overall prevalence of thinness, normal weight and overweight were 38.37%, 50% and 11.62%, respectively. Present study finds the nutritional stress among girls as evident from the thinness/underweight prevalent among them.