Original scientific paper
Growth and Nutritional Status of the Bharia – A Primitive Tribe of Madhya Pradesh
Manis Kumar Tiwari
K. K. N. Sharma
Susmita Bharati
Dipak Kumar Adak
Rohini Ghosh
Premananda Bharati
Abstract
This study is an attempt to understand the physical growth and nutritional status of Bharia, a primitive tribe of Central
India. A cross sectional study was conducted on 551 children (283 boys and 268 girls) aged 4 to 18 years. Body
weight, height, sitting height, head circumference, upper arm circumference, chest circumference, biceps, triceps, sub
scapular and calf skin fold thickness were measured. Body Mass Index was calculated as weight/ height2to calculate
chronic energy deficiency. All anthropometric measurements except skin fold measurement exhibit uniform increase with
age in both the sexes. Age-specific Body Mass Index (BMI) indicated substantial changes and falls during pre-school age
and rise in adolescence. The BMI according to the Indian standard was normal, but when the data was compared with
the International standard malnutrition in both sexes was noticed in childhood. Boys remained undernourished after
adolescence, while girls reached the normal growth patterns.
Keywords
Bharia; nutritional status; BMI; growth pattern; skinfold
Hrčak ID:
27305
URI
Publication date:
4.1.2007.
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