PHYSICAL GROWTH PATTERN OF BENGALEE BOYS AND GIRLS DURING CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE

Abstract

The differential physical growth rate pattern of the lower socioeconomic strata of the Bengalee population is apparent but has not yet been looked into in a systematic manner.So crosssectional study on physical growth rate has been conducted on Bengalee boys and girls (aged 5 to 15 years) of lower middle socioeconomic group (LMIG) of West Bengal for a period of one year.Anthropometric measurements were performed on randomly selected 255 schoolgoing children and adolescents (123 females and 132 males) and their nutritional status was assessed by 24 hours recall method.Age and sex-specific sitting height velocity, leg length velocity, maximum height and body weight difference, body mass index(BMI), along with their bicep and subscapular skinfold thickness were observed to vary significantly(p less than 0.05) in Bengalee population of LMIG. Skinfold thickness of LMIG Bengalee boys and girls indicated thinning of fat layer of upper limb and lower trunk during adolescent growth spurt for both sexes. Different grades of malnutrition were reflected from the LMIG children and they were mostly on high-cereal based diet. So, moderate to chronic undernutrition was observed among Bengalee boys and girls during their growth period. So the growth pattern of Bengalee boys and girls during childhood and adolescence in LMIG showed peak annual incremental growth in 9 -10 year-old girls and 11 -12 year old boys which is about a year earlier than the welloff urban Bengalee as well as Indian boys and girls. Moreover, comparison of differential growth of sitting height and leg length velocity indicated shorter adult height among Bengalee as well as Indian population.