The association between socio-economic factors and nutritional status among children: evidence from Nagaland, North-East India

Authors : Temsumongla LONGKUMER

Pages : 20-27

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Publication Date : 2016-09-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The study on children’s nutrition is important in order to understand the health status of the population, especially in a developing country like India, where the coexistence of both under nutrition and over nutrition is becoming a public health concern. Under this backdrop, a cross-sectional study was done to examine the nutritional status of the Ao Naga boys from Nagaland, North-East India, and its association with socio-economic factors. Anthropometric data such as height and weight were collected. Nutritional status was assessed using Body Mass Index insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(BMI); following the classification made by Cole et al. Data on socio-economic status was collected using appropriate schedule. In order to test the level of significance at 0.05 levels, chi-square test was used. The result showed that, BMI increased with an advancement of age, and the prevalence of underweight decreased slightly with age in a fluctuating pattern. There was a significant variability of BMI regarding socio-economic indicator in relation to income group. Children belonging to better socio-economic status were taller, heavier, and fatter than their non-affluent counterparts. Both underweight and overweight co-existed among the children, although underweight was significantly higher
Keywords : Body mass index, underweight, overweight, family income group