Assessment of Nutritional Status among Adolescent Boys (10-19 Years) of Secondary Schools in an Urban Area of District Rohtak, Haryana

Background: Census 2011 estimated that there are approximately 253 million adolescents in India, constituting about 20.9% of the total population. Adolescence is an important stage of growth and development in the lifespan of a person. Unique changes that occur in an individual during this period are accompanied by progressive achievement of biological maturity. Inadequate nutrition in adolescence can potentially retard growth and sexual maturation, although these are likely consequences of chronic malnutrition in infancy and childhood. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in the service area of an urban health center, Rohtak during the months of January to March 2015. The participants involved were school going boys (10 to 19 years). The participants were classified on the basis of their health (under-nutritional status), depending upon the Z-score value (WHO growth standards, 2007) of their respective BMI. Results: A total of 649 boys participated in the study. Overall mean age of study participants was 15.5 years. The proportion of adolescents who were undernourished based on BMI Z Score came out as 36.7% (13.3% severely undernourished and 23.4% moderately undernourished). As education and health are correlated, in the present study, the mothers with higher level of education were having significantly (P = 0.017) least proportion (29.8%) of undernourished participants. Conclusion: Nutritional status of the studied children is not impressive among adolescent boys. There is a need for health promotion activities among school children by providing an enabling environment. Improving nutritional status of adolescents will go a long way in maintaining the health of the country.