Assess the nutritional status among Adolescent girls at selected coastal community, Chennai

Abstract

Adolescence is a particularly unique period in life because it is a time of intense physical, psychosocial, and cognitive development. Increased nutritional needs at this juncture relate to the fact that adolescents gain up to 50% of their adult weight, more than 20% of their adult height, and 50% of their adult skeletal mass during this period. Caloric and protein requirements are maximal. Increased physical activity, combined with poor eating habits and other considerations, e.g. menstruation and pregnancy, contribute to accentuating the potential risk for adolescents of poor nutrition.

The main nutrition problems affecting adolescent populations worldwide include under nutrition, Iron deficiency and anemia; Iodine deficiency; Vitamin A deficiency; Calcium deficiency and other specific nutrient deficiencies like zinc, foliate, and obesity

A study proposed to assess the nutritional status among adolescent girls at selected coastal community, Chennai, Tamilnadu. The objectives are to assess the nutritional status among adolescent girls at selected school and to associate the nutritional status of selected demographic variables of girls of 10-16 years, age group, a sample size of 320 girls were selected in the schools covering selected coastal area by using simple random sampling fulfilled the inclusion  criteria were selected for the study. An extensive review of literature and guidance by experts formed the foundation to the development of the study. The data collection tool was validated and reliability was established. The data collection for the study was done from the collected data was tabulated and analyzed. According to WHO nutritional assessment criteria, children were classed as 41.47% had moderate stunting and 3.18% were severely stunted. 3.71% were extremely thin, 40.91% were thin, and 10.73% were overweight. The most common illness among study participants was conjunctival pallor (anaemia), followed by dental caries, 8.46% vitamin B complex deficiency, 3.8% angular stomatitis, and 0.84% vitamin A deficiency. There is a significant association of assessment of nutritional status among adolescent girls with demographic variables like age, type of family, monthly income, dietary habits, height in cm and weight in kg.