Abstract
Introduction: Even after introduction of Kishori Shakti Yojana and SABLA with existing ICDS still we are far lagging behind the goal to achieve optimum nutritional status of adolescent girls in our country, therefore an insightful study is needed to look into its causes. Aim: To evaluate the nutritional status of school going adolescent girls of 11-16 yrs of age group. Objectives: 1. To perform anthropometric assessment of adolescent girls by recording weight, height and BMI. 2. To assess the prevalence of anemia by Hb measurement. 3. To study dietary pattern among adolescent girls. 4. To assess mean age of onset of menarche 5. To find out association of independent variables with anthropometric measurements if there is any. Materials and method: Study design: cross-sectional school based study. Study Place: Govt. Sr. Sec. Girls' school, Bikaner, Study population: school going girls of 11-16 years age. Study Duration: 3 Months (July 2014-Sept 2014). Sampling method: Stratified random sampling, Study tool: pre-tested semi structured questionnaire Data analysis: SPSS16 software. Results: Among 240 adolescent girls studied, their age ranged from 11-16 years, including 40 participants from each year age. Mean age of onset of menarche was 12.68 +/- 0.917 years. Mean height & Mean weight were 136.8 cm & 28.64 kg respectively whereas mean BMI was 15.244. Presence of anemia was statistically significantly associated with age (p<0.05) and BMI (p<0.001). A positive correlation was observed between level of Hb and BMI (r=0.87). Daily calorie intake was observed to be positively correlated as well as significantly associated with BMI of participants. Conclusion: Adolescent girls' nutrition still remains our major public health problem; there should be more vigorous efforts to its control as well as prevention.