Assessment Of Nutritional Status Of Tribal Adolescent Girls Through Anthropometric Measurements: A Cross-Sectional Study In Mayurbhanj District Of Odisha

Abstract

Tribal adolescent girls are among the most nutritionally vulnerable population groups in India due to poor dietary intake, socio-economic deprivation, limited access to health services and increased physiological nutritional requirements during adolescence. Anthropometric assessment is a simple and reliable method for evaluating nutritional status. The objective of the study is to assess the anthropometric measurements of tribal adolescent girls in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha to generate a baseline database of their nutritional status. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 tribal adolescent girls aged 15-19 years in Baripada block of Mayurbhanj district, Odisha. Data on their anthropometric measurements including height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and waist-hip-ratio (WHR) were recorded following standard WHO procedures. BMI and WHR was classified according to WHO criteria. Data was analyzed using SPSS 2.0. The results revealed that a higher proportion of the selected respondents belonged to the Santhal tribe (48.0%). The data showed a majority of the tribal girls were continuing education (86.0%) and belonged to joint families (67.3%). The mean height and weight were 149.41±4.96 cm and 46.82±2.75 kg, respectively with mean BMI value of 17.78±1.51 kg/m² indicating a significant gap with WHO reference values. More than half (61.33%) of the respondents were underweight, whereas only 38.66% had normal BMI. Among the underweight respondents, 14.0% had severe thinness, 21.33% had moderate thinness and 26.0% had mild thinness. The mean WHR was 0.754±0.16, with 73.33% of respondents classified as low risk, 24.00% as moderate risk, and 2.66% as high risk. The study revealed a high prevalence of undernutrition among tribal adolescent girls in Mayurbhanj district. Regular nutritional assessment, nutrition education, dietary diversification and strengthening of existing adolescent health programmes are essential to improve nutritional status of tribal adolescents.