Nutritional Status, Associated Factors and Dietary Pattern of School Going Adolescent Girls in Rural Bangladesh

Adolescence is a transitional period of growth and development between childhood and adulthood. The aim of this research was to assess the prevalence of stunting and thinness to identify the factors those are associated with stunting and thinness of school going adolescent girls in a rural area of Bangladesh. A cross-sectional sample survey was carried out among the adolescent girls of Bashbunia Bagum Meherunnessa Girls High School, Dumki, Patuakhali. A total no. of 125 adolescent girls was selected by random sampling method. In this study stunting was 20 % and thinness was 13.6 %. Stunting and thinness occur mainly due to low family income, chronic disease and lack of knowledge about the need of extra nutrients during this period. Adolescent girls whose monthly family income 10000 BDT. Girls with irregular menstrual cycle were 2.33 times more likely to be stunted as compared to their counterpart. Adolescent girls having chronic disease were 2.06 times more likely to become thinner as compared to those who had no chronic disease. About 33.6 % girls did not take milk at all in their diet. Fruits were consumed by nearly half of the girls at least 4 days in a week. However, acute (thinness) and chronic (stunting) malnutrition can be overcomed by providing stipend by emphasizing health care services and by implementing school based nutrition program focusing on nutritional knowledge, attitude and practices.