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Obesity is generally classified into generalized obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) and abdominal or central obesity (WC ≥90 cm for men and WC ≥80 cm for women) based on World Health Organization recommendation for Asians. Hypertension is one of the most common obesity-related complications, and about 30% of hypertensive individuals can be classified as being obese. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of different age groups (years) on the anthropometric and derived variables. It determined the correlation between anthropometric and derived variables and also estimated the frequency of central obesity and hypertension. Finally, it investigated the relationship between central obesity and blood pressure among rural Bengalee adults of Dirghagram village of Ghatal Block, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken among 310 rural adults (154 males; 156 females) aged over 18 years. Our study was carried out during March, 2017. Height (cm), weight (kg), waist circumference (cm), hip circumference (cm) and blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) were measured using standard procedures. One way ANOVA analysis on most of the anthropometric and derived variables showed a statistically significant increase from younger to older age group in both sexes (p<0.001;p<0.01; p<0.05). In addition to that, more females had central obesity using waist circumference (55.8% vs. 19.5%), waist hip ratio (87.2% vs. 35.7%), waist height ratio (73.7% vs. 44.2%), and conicity index (87.2% vs. 57.8%) criteria, and hypertension (52.5% vs. 27.3%). The prevalence of central obesity was much higher in case of hypertensive individuals. Therefore, the present study showed a high prevalence of central obesity among the rural adults of Dirghagram village. Furthermore, central obesity contributed in increasing hypertension among the villagers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For nutritional assessment work for older population, it is important to be able to estimate body height based on knee height. The present report describes three equations for height estimation among older Bengalees based on knee height and compares the results with knee height based formulae developed for several other populations. Anthropometric measurements were analyzed from 114 (62 men and 52 women) older subjects aged >= 55 years. The subjects were randomly selected from two blocks (Contai I and Ramnagar I), at coastal area of Purba Medinipur District in West Bengal, India. A population specific formula for height was created based on knee height of the subjects. These estimated formulae from the present study and fourteen other previously reported formulae were also applied to these older population and the mean estimation errors were statistically compared. Analysis indicated that our derived formulae gave accurate estimation of height among the subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Beta-thalassemia trait (BTT) is a common genetic disorder of hemoglobin and imposes a significant burden on global healthcare. Screening of this disorder is immensely important epidemiologically as it can reduce the future incidence of thalassemia major in newborns. The present study was carried out to evaluate the role of six discrimination indices to differentiate cases of BTT from others. Materials and Methods: A single-center, cross-sectional study was conducted on consecutive 10,407 participants. In addition to common diagnostic statistics association, concordance and receiver-operating characteristic curves were assessed to judge the role of discrimination indices. Results: Shine and Lal index, Mentzer index, and Srivastava index had revealed better discriminative function compared to England and Fraser index, red cell distribution width index, and Green and King index. Conclusion: Discrimination indices are rapid, reliable, and easy tools to suspect a case of BTT and send the subject for further high-performance liquid chromatography evaluation. But the cut-off value for these indices needs to be revised to achieve the best combination of sensitivity and specificity in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Developing countries like India, accounts for about 40 percent of undernourished children in the World and it is largely due to the result of dietary inadequacy in relation to their needs. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the changes in the nutritional status of the children, from their preschool days to the present primary school days.Design/methodology/approach – The present investigation was conducted at 20 Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) centers (Center-A) and 15 primary schools (Center-B) in Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambag, Hooghly District of West Bengal, India, at an interval of three to four years. A total of 1,012 children (boys=498; girls=514) aged two to six years old enrolled in these ICDS centers and a total of 603 children (boys=300, girls=303), aged five to ten years were studied from the 15 primary schools who were the beneficiaries of ICDS centers. Underweight (weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ)) and wasting (weight-for height Z-score (WHZ)) were used to assess the nutritional status. Findings – The nutritional situation (both in case of underweight and wasting) was better in Center B as compared with Center A. In general, the nutritional condition of boys was better than girls. Center had a very significant effect on both WAZ as well as WHZ, irrespective of age and sex. Sex has a significant impact only on WAZ. Interestingly, there was no significant sex-center interaction for both WAZ as well as WHZ. The children of the area were getting Mid Day Meal supplied through the school authorities which was comparatively better than the ICDS centers’ food supplementation. Better monitoring of nutritional supplementation at primary schools may be an important factor. Practical implications – In ICDS centers, only the Anganwari worker is responsible in running and implementing the programs offered by the Government. However, at primary schools, the active involvement of all the teachers to run the program may have effectively led to have better results. Furthermore, the Government's focus should not be only on the increase the area covered by the ICDS program, but focus should be to increase the quality of food supplied, proper monitoring of the implementation and increase the allocation of funds. Appropriate measures may be taken by the authorities regarding this. Originality/value – The results of the study will help in policy making in reducing the prevalence of undernutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Menarche seems be related to the relative distribution rather than the total amount of body fat. Previous studies showed that the ratio between lower-body vs. upper-body fat was associated with the timing of menarche. Aim: To compare the relative distribution of subcutaneous fat among Bengali Hindu pre-.and post-menarcheal girls. Materials and Methods: The participants were 234 Bengali Hindu girls aged 11-14 years: 111 pre-menarcheal and 123 post-menarcheal girls, randomly selected from a secondary school from a suburb of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Triceps, abdominal, sub-scapular, and calf skinfolds were measured. For each skinfold site, ratio was calculated as follows: Log (one skinfold/sum of skinfolds). Principal components (PC) analysis was performed to derive components which express the maximum contrast among the log of ratios. T-test was employed to assess differences between individual scores of components between pre-.and post-menarcheal girls. Results: The three identified PC suggested extremities-trunk, lower trunk-upper trunk, and an upper extremity-lower extremity contrasts, respectively. Scores for second and third components showed significant differences between pre- and post-menarcheal groups of girls. Conclusion: The attainment of menarche by Bengali girls aged 11-14 years was associated with characteristically more relative subcutaneous fat distribution in the upper trunk and in the lower limbs, in contrast to lower trunk and upper limbs, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malnutrition is a leading cause of child mortality in India. To counteract this problem, a nutrition supplementation programme has been operating under the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) scheme in India since 1975 . Recently, the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) has been implemented to measure the seriousness and severity of overall under-nutrition in a population. Since this index presents a more complete picture than the previous three conventional measures. CIAF is utililized in this study which focuses on the overall burden of under-nutrition determination in pre-school children in Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Our study was conducted in 10 Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) centres, commonly known as 'Anganwadi', in the villages of the Argoal Gram Panchayat at Patashpur - II block. The total sample of 225 Bengalee ethnic children aged between 3 and 6 years was composed of 115 girls and 110 boys. The overall age and gender-combined prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting recorded was 30.7%, 42.7% and 12.0%, respectively, and these rates were considered high (30-39%), very high (≥ 40%) and high (10-14%), respectively. CIAF results revealed the same trend, with 50.2% of these children affected by anthropometric failure, with the prevalence of underweight, wasting and CIAF higher in boys than in girls. This 50.2% CIAF result highlighted that approximately half the study children were undernourished. Since this figure is much higher than that estimated by any of the three conventional indicators,, CIAF has thus proven a far better indicator in assessing the overall burden of under-nutrition in a population. The nutritional status of the children in this study requires serious remedial action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present cross-sectional study was conducted among two male tribal groups Munda (n = 106) and Oraon (n = 104) aged 18.73 years of Paschim Medinipur,West Bengal. Objective was to evaluate the health status based on body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (PBF). Measurements of weight, height, circumferences, and skinfolds were recorded. Results revealed that mean age of Mundas (36.2 ± 13.3) and Oraons (35.1 ± 15.3) in years were similar. Significant (P < 0.05) ethnic differences in mean chest circumference and anterior thigh skinfold were observed. BothMunda (50.0%) and Oraon (46.2%) males suffered from very high degree of chronic energy deficiency (CED) based on BMI. Similarly, for percent body fat (PBF),Mundas (29.3%) and Oraons (35.4%) had unhealthy (too low) PBF (i.e., ≤5%) levels. Significantly negative correlations were observed between age and BMI and positive correlations between age, waist-hip ratio (WHR), and conicity index (CI) (onlyMundas) amongMundas and Oraons. In Linear regression, age had a significant impact on all derived central and overall adiposity measures. Prospective studies are required to determine the associations between health status and PBF as well as nutrition status and BMI in different indigenous ethnic groups of India and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Collegium Antropologicum is the property of Croatian Anthropological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

haeological studies in the upper and lower part of the Ganga-Bhaghrathi-Hugli delta were taken up to understand the nature of site formation and human adaptation in a dynamic fluvial zone. This aspect has been neglected in Indian archaeology. However archaeological dating using typological information, has an error margin of a couple of centuries and hence, is of limited use. We suggest that high resolution chronology using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating can be quite effective in the study of archaeology and human environment relationship in the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta (GBD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Body composition is a useful marker for assessing the adiposity of an individual. The amount of body fat (BF) differs with age, sex, environmental conditions and genotype, and is a good indicator of the health and nutritional status of a community. As the subcutaneous fat serves as a reservoir for energy during nutritional deprivation, lower BF in comparison with other studies indicates a lower energy intake by those children, who are affected by their lower socio-economic status. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of socio-economic class, after allowing for sex and age, on body fatness among rural pre-school children of Bengalee Hindu ethnicity of Arambagh, West Bengal, India. The present study was undertaken at 20 Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme centers in Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambagh, Hooghly District of West Bengal, India. A total of 1012 boys and girls (aged 2–6 years) living in these areas were studied. The children were classified into two groups based on their social class: Schedule Castes (SC) and Non-Schedule Castes (NSC). In general, SC comprise socio-economically and educationally deprived individuals. Three-way analysis of variance was used to assess the effect of ethnicity on mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and sum of skinfolds (SS), allowing for age and sex. There was an increasing age trend in both these variables in both sexes in the two groups. All three factors had a significant effect on MUAC, whereas only age and social class had a significant impact on SS. In the case of MUAC, only one second order interaction (sex–age) was significant. In conclusion, we found that after controlling for age and sex, children belonging to the SC group had lower body fatness. These results implied that they were under more nutritional stress. There was also some evidence that at the early ages, girls belonging to the SC group probably received inadequate nutrition and as a result had lower body fat. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A community-based cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of undernutrition using body mass index (BMI) among 2-6-year Santal preschool children of Purulia District, West Bengal, India. A total of 251 (116 boys and 135 girls) children from 12 villages were measured. Commonly used indicators, that is, weight, height, and BMI, were used to evaluate the nutritional status. More boys (59.5%) than girls (53.3%), based on BMI, were undernourished. Significant age differences in weight (F = 44.29"""; df = 3), height (F = 58.48"""; df = 3), and BMI (F = 3.52"""; df = 3) among boys were observed. Similarly, significant differences between ages in mean weight (F = 56.27"""; df = 3), height (F = 64.76"""; df = 3), and BMI (F = 2.62"""; df = 3) were observed among the girls. The present study revealed that the nutritional status of the preschool children of Santal tribal community of these villages was poor with very high rate of thinness in boys and girls (59.5% and 53.3%, resp.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of 391 pre-school children (200 boys and 191 girls) was undertaken at Nituria and Kashipur of Purulia District, West Bengal, to determine their nutritional status based on mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). Nutritional status was determined following the World Health Organization age and sex-specific cut-off points. Results revealed that there was no significant sex difference in mean MUAC. Approximately 95% of the subjects resided in kutcha (mud or straw made) type house. The age-combined rates of overall (moderate + severe) undernutrition were higher among the boys than girls. The age-combined rates of moderate and severe undernutrition implied--although both sexes were experiencing nutritional stress, the severity was higher among girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: One of the greatest problems facing developing countries, including rural India, is undernutrition in terms of stunting among under 5-year-old children. However, there exists scanty information on the prevalence of stunting among preschool children in India and in particular in West Bengal. This study investigated prevalence of stunting and identified the predictor(s) of stunting among 1–5-year-old Bengalee rural preschool children of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) centres. This cross-sectional study was undertaken at different ICDS centres of Chapra Block, Nadia District, West Bengal, India. A total of 673 preschool children (323 boys and 350 girls), aged 1–5 years were selected from 30 randomly selected ICDS centres to study the impact of parents’ educational status and child birth order on stunting. The overall (age and sex combined) rate of stunting was 39.2%. Child birth order (BO) (χ 2 =14.10, df=1, p <0.001), father educational status (FES) (χ 2 =21.11, p <0.001) and mother educational status (MES) (χ 2 =14.34, df=1, p >0.001) were significantly associated with the prevalence of stunting among girls. Logistic regression analyses revealed that both FES (Wald=19.97, p <0.001) as well as MES (Wald=13.95, p <0.001) were strong predictors of stunting among girls. Similarly BO (Wald=13.71, p <0.001) was a strong predictor of stunting among girls. Girls with ≥3rd BO had significantly higher risk (OR=2.49, CI=1.54–4.03) of stunting than those with ≤2nd BO. Moreover, girls with FES lower than secondary level had significantly (OR=3.30, CI=1.96–5.58) higher rate of stunting than those with FES≥secondary level. Similarly, girls with MES

Objective: Under-nutrition continues to be a primary cause of ill-health and premature mortality among children in developing countries. Present study attempted to assess the overall prevalence of undernutrition using composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) among rural preschool children of Arambag, Hooghly District, West Bengal, India. Methods: A total of 1012 rural children (498 boys; 514 girls) aged 2-6 years were measured. Three commonly used undernutrition indicators, ie, stunting, wasting and underweight, as well as the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) were used to evaluate the nutritional status of the subjects following internationally accepted cut-off points. For assessing CIAF, Svedberg's model of six groups of children was used. Findings: Among the studied children, 26.6%, 50.0% and 63.3% were stunted, wasted and under weight, respectively. The CIAF showed a higher prevalence of undernutrition of 73.1% of the studied children suffering from anthropometric failure, in comparison to other three indicators (stunting, underweight and wasting). Out of six subgroups of CIAF with undernourished children, group C (containing children who are wasted and underweight) is the highest (32.0%), more-or less one-third of the studied children and children of group F (stunted only) is the lowest (2.7%). Group B (wasting only) and Y (underweight only) show the same prevalence ie 7.2% and 7.1% respectively. Children who simultaneously have wasting, stunting and underweight (ie group D) account for 10.7%. There was no significant age group difference between no failure and CIAF. Conclusion: We found that CIAF may be a better indicator of nutritional stress as compared to the traditional measures of stunting, underweight and wasting. The distinct advantage of the CIAF may be that it can highlight the seriousness and severity of overall undernutrition ie the actual load of undernutrition in a population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Objective: The objective of the study is to explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (PBF) in relation to hypertension among adult Bengalee males of low socio-economic status living in a slum area of West Bengal, India. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried on 436 males aged 18–60 years in a slum area called Bidhan Colony, which is approximately 15km from Kolkata city. Data on anthropometric measurements and blood pressure were collected, following standard techniques. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used for testing the relationship between BMI and PBF relative to hypertension. Results: About 4.25% and 50% of the normal (BMI 18.5–22.9kg/m2) and overweight (BMI 23.0–24.9kg/m2) subjects, respectively, were obese according to the PBF cut-off point of >25%. The ROC curve analysis indicated that the BMI cut-off ≥23kg/m2 was appropriate for detecting obesity relative to hypertension. It was observed that the prevalence of hypertension increased significantly with age (r =0.226, p <0.001). Adjusting for age, the subjects with BMI 23–24.99kg/m2 had about 3.2 times (95% CI: 1.61–6.27) greater risk of hypertension than those with BMI<23kg/m2, and the risk for those with BMI≥25kg/m2 was about 4.5 times (95% CI: 2.06–9.57). As for PBF, the risk of hypertension was about 2.6 times (95% CI: 1.38–4.80) for the subjects with PBF>25% compared to those with PBF≤25%. Conclusions: Our study validated the BMI cut-off point proposed by the WHO for Asia-Pacific populations for screening the individuals who are likely at risk of overweight. However, such data should be substantiated by independent risks of adverse health outcomes that need for public health intervention. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: Childhood undernutrition among tribal children is a serious public health problem in India. The present study was conducted to assess the prevalence of undernutrition (underweight, stunong and wasting) among Lodha children of Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India. Methods: This cross sectional Study was conducted in a village of Paschim Medinipur district. A total of 165 (early childhood=74, late childhood=91) children aged 1-14 years were measured and included in the present study following simple random method. The children were further divided into two categories: early childhood: under 6 years (<72 months) and late childhood: ≥72 months. Anthropometric measurements such as height and weight were made following standard techniques. Children were considered underweight, stunting and wasting as weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height Z-score below -2 standard deviation using the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference population. iinding.s: The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was 33.9%, 26.1% and 19.4%, respectively, Of these, 9.1%, 9.7% and 3.6% children were found to be severely underweight, stunted and wasted. Moreover, the prevalence of underweight (47.3% vs 23.1%) and stunting (35.1% vs 18.7%) was significantly higher in early childhood compared to during late childhood. They had 2.05 (RR= 2.05; 95% confidence interval (Cl): 1.31- 3.20) and 1.88 (Cl: 1.11-3.19) times greater chance to be underweight and stunted than during late childhood. Whereas, the prevalence of wasting was similar in both groups (20.3% vs 18.9%; RR=1.09; Cl:0.58-2.02). Similarly, the rates of severe underweight (early childhood vs late childhood: 16.2% vs 3.3%) and stunting (20.3% vs 1.1%) were significantly higher in early childhood. They had 4.92 (Cl: 1.44-16.79) fold and 18.45 (Cl: 2.49-136.42) fold more risk to he an underweight and stunted compared to during late childhood. Conclusion: The nutritional status of the Lodha children, especially during early childhood was unsatisfactory. There is an urgent requirement to improve the nutritional status of children in this ethnic group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study investigated age and sex variations in height and weight, levels of stunting, underweight and wasting among 533 (254 boys; 279 girls) 3- to 5-year-old rural children of Bengalee ethnicity at 11 Integrated Child Development Services centres of Nadia District, West Bengal, India. Height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height < −2 z-scores were used to evaluate stunting, underweight and wasting, respectively, following the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Guidelines. Results revealed that boys were significantly heavier than girls at age 3 years. Significant age differences existed in mean height and weight in both sexes. Mean z-scores of height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height were lower than those of NCHS for both sexes at all ages. The overall (age and sex combined) rates of stunting, underweight and wasting were 23.9%, 31.0% and 9.4%, respectively. The rate of underweight and wasting was higher among girls (underweight = 35.1%, wasting = 12.2%) compared with boys (underweight = 26.5%, wasting = 6.3%). In general, the frequency of stunting increased with increasing age in both sexes. Based on the World Health Organization classification of severity of malnutrition, the overall prevalence of underweight was very high (≥30%). The prevalence rates of stunting (20–29%) and wasting (5–9%) were medium. In conclusion, the nutritional status of the subjects is unsatisfactory. There is scope for improvement in the form of enhanced supplementary nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High prevalence of low birth weight, high morbidity and mortality in children and poor child health to be major nutritional concerns in India. In addition, the Indian population is passing through a nutritional transition and is expected to witness higher prevalence of adult noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease according to the theory of 'fetal origin of adult disease'. Although nationwide intervention programmes are in operation over two decades, the situation has not changed greatly. Clearly, there is a need for examining several issues of nutritional significance for effective planning of interventions. In particular, maternal nutrition and fetal growth relationship, long term effects of early life undernutrition, interactions of prenatal nutritional experiences and postnatal undernutrition are some of the major issues. Malnutrition (undernutrition or overnutrition) is a problem at varying proportions in developing countries, mad anthropometry is a simple tool to assess its magnitude in children. This community-based cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the magnitude of undernutrition among 549 school children (boys = 291 and girls = 258) aged 5-9 years of rural areas of East Midnapore district of West Bengal in India. The collected data was analyzed using the recommended indices of height for-age (stunting] and weight-for-age (underweight) based on the NCHS standard. Prevalence of stunting (overall = 29.7%, boys = 29.6%. girls = 29.8%) and underweight (overall = 53.4%, boys = 54.6%. girls = 51.9%) was alarming among the children studied. There was not much difference between boys and girls for nutritional status. Moreover, the age variations in stunting and underweight demonstrate similar age-trend for both the sex groups. Compared to undernutrition levels identified in other Third World countries, rural Bengalee children of the present study had very high rates. Thus, this study provided evidence that undernutrition is still a leading problem among rural Bengalee primary school children of West Bengal and this has not improved in spite of nutrition intervention programmes which are currently in operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine anthropometric profile and the prevalence of chronic energy deficiency (CED), based on body mass index (BMI) of adult Santals, a tribal population of Jhargram, West Medinipur District, West Bengal, India. A total of 410 adult (aged > 18 years) Santals of six villages (Jharagaria, Jamiderdanga, Jamda, Jaynagar, Chapashol, and Lukudahi) near Jhargram town of West Medinipur District, West Bengal, India, were studied. These villages are located within 15 km. (approximately) from Jhargram town and 150 km. from Kolkata, the provincial capital of West Bengal. Anthropometric measurements including height, weight, and circumferences as well as BMI were measured using standard protocol. Overall, the extent of CED (BMI In conclusion, this study provided evidence that although the anthropometric and nutritional profile of adult Santals was better than some of the other tribal populations of eastern India, immediate appropriate nutritional intervention programs are needed for implementation among Santals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Collegium Antropologicum is the property of Croatian Anthropological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: This study was undertaken to determine age and sex variations in the prevalence of underweight and stunting, and to assess the impact of some socio-economic variables on undernutrition among 6–16 year old school children of Bengalee ethnicity in Chapra, West Bengal, India. The subjects were selected randomly from various schools and madrassas of the Chapra Block. A total of 725 children (342 boys and 383 girls) aged 6–16 years were measured and data on their socio-economic status were collected. Age and sex combined rates of underweight and stunting were 44.40% and 37.20%, respectively. Weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ) showed significant association with per-capita income (PCI) among boys (F =5.45) and girls (F =8.14). Height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) has also shown the association with per-capita income among boys (F =4.43) and girls (F =9.69). The WAZ was significantly associated with fathers’ educational status (FOS) (t =−2.95) and the number of living rooms (NLR) (t =−2.91) among girls. The HAZ showed significant association with number of siblings (NS) among girls (F =4.25). Linear regression analyses revealed that NLR (t =2.04) and NS (t =1.95) had a significant impact on HAZ among boys. Among girls, PCI (t =3.38), FOS (t =2.87) and NLR (t =2.81) had a significant impact on WAZ and also PCI (t =3.28) and FOS (t =2.90) had a significant impact on HAZ. NLR had significant associations with underweight (χ 2 =3.59) and stunting (χ 2 =4.20) among boys. Among girls, PCI had significant associations with underweight (χ 2 =11.15) and stunting (χ 2 =11.64). FOS also showed significant associations with underweight (χ 2 =8.10) as well as stunting (χ 2 =8.28) among girls. NLR showed a significant association with underweight (χ 2 =7.75). Logistics regression analyses revealed that FOS (Wald=8.00) and NLR (Wald=4.09) were significant predictors of stunting among boys. Among girls, PCI was a significant predictor of underweight (Wald=10.95) as well as stunting (Wald=10.45). FOS, NLR and NS were also significant predictors of stunting (Wald=8.16), underweight (Wald=7.68) and stunting (Wald=6.97) respectively. The present study revealed that the nutritional status of the children was unsatisfactory and it is of paramount importance not only to increase the amount of food supplementation given but also to promote gender equality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Menarche, the first menstruation, is one of the most important events in a woman's reproductive life. The timing of menarche varies across populations and depends upon social interaction and family environment. It is also associated with several biological as well as social factors. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between sibling composition and age at menarche (AAM) and to assess the association between the pattern of room sharing with family members of different sexes and menarcheal occurrence among rural Bengalee girls from West Bengal, India. The total sample comprised 577 Bengalee girls, 6-17 years of age, from various schools and madrasas in two blocks of the Nadia District of West Bengal State in India. The effects of room sharing on the occurrence of menarche, and of sibling composition on the menarcheal age, were assessed by analyses of covariance. The room-sharing pattern had a significant effect on menarcheal status (yes/no): a significantly higher percentage of girls who shared a room with the mother and/or sisters were postmenarcheal compared with those who shared a room with male family members. AAM did not differ significantly between girls having brothers or sisters. However, sibling order had a significant impact on AAM. Girls who had a younger sibling only (brother or sister) had a higher mean AAM, and girls who had both younger brothers and younger sisters had significantly higher mean AAM, than did the girls who had no younger sibling (singletons or having only elder siblings). There was no difference in AAM between the girls who had younger sister(s) and those who had younger brother(s). These differences were also independent of body mass index. In conclusion, the room sharing characteristics and the sibling sex compositionparticularly their order, had significant effect on menarche in adolescent rural Bengalee girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]