Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, C.G., India, mitashree.mitra@gmail.com
The present study was conducted to evaluate the pattern of physical growth among healthy Abujhmaria (Primitive Tribe) children studying in Ashram school (Ramakrishna Mission Ashram) of Narayanpur district at Chhattisgarh, India. The study was conducted of 550 children (327 boys and 223 girls), aged 6 to 18 years. The data includes anthropometric measurements and per day nutrient intake. The nature of distance curves and percentile curves of the body measurements showed increasing trends from 6 to 18 years of age with least sexual dimorphism. Utmost significant differences between sexes were observed after 12 years, where girls possessed higher amount of skinfolds. The 50th percentile curves (median) of height and weight of Abujhmaria children placed above the 50th percentile curves of Indian children but well below than American and WHO standards. The children in the current study were found to be significantly (p<0.01) taller and heavier than Indian as well as regional tribal children, which may be due to higher nutrients consumption than others. Therefore, the growth pattern observed among Abujhmaria children living in Ashram school show better condition as compared to contemporary tribal and Indian children.
