Association of anthropometric indices of nutritional status with growth in height among Limboo children of Sikkim, India

Aim: Influence of nutrition in human growth failure, especially stunting, is a well-accepted idea. The present study assesses the influence of nutrition and non-nutritional factors on height growth in a short stature population. Material and methods: The present study was conducted among the children and adolescents of Sikkim, India. The sample size was 538 (boys and girls) of age 2-18 years. The anthropometric indices mid upper arm circumference-for-age Z-scores (MUACZ) and BMI-for-age Z-scores (BAZ) were utilised as proxy of nutritional status and growth was assessed using height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ). Associations were assessed using correlation, St. Nicolas house analysis (SNHA), principal component analysis (PCA) and regression. Results: Nutritional status of the participating children and adolescents as assessed by MUACZ and BAZ were largely normal. Despite variation in HAZ from -4 to +2 there was no influence of the nutritional indices on height. Further, there was clear lack of association between HAZ and socio-economic variables in the present study. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest nutrition is not the primary regulator of human growth. The possible influence of community effects on height is discussed.