1Associate Professor, Deptt of Foods & Nutrition, College of Home Science, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan
2Lecturer, Govt. Girls College, Nathdwara, Rajasthan, India
3PhD Scholar, Deptt of Foods & Nutrition, College of Home Science, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
Online published on 23 January, 2014.
Young adult females are the productive citizen of the country. Their productivity depends on good nutritional and health status which is necessary for continuous development of the nation. Therefore the present study was undertaken to assess the nutritional profile of young college going girls.
A baseline survey was conducted on 300 college going adult girls aged 18 to 25 years of Udaipur. A group of 18 to 25 years girls were selected by accidental sampling method. An interview schedule was developed to collect information about the subject and their family. The nutritional status was assessed by anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist hip circumference and skin fold thickness at bicep, triceps, sub scapular and suprailiac sites), clinical and biochemical examinations using standardized techniques. Body mass index, weight for height, waist hip ratio and body composition were also calculated to assess the nutritional status.
Nutritional status assessed by different body measurements and indices gave varied prevalence of malnutrition among the females studied. Mean BMI and weight for height (%) revealed that the study group had normal weight for height. Clinical signs of anaemia were not common among these females indicating that sub clinical stage of anaemia was present.
It can be concluded that anaemia was the most common problem of this group. Thus government should not only focus National Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme strictly but also action plans should be introduced at community and individual level to overcome the same.
Nutritional Status, Body Mass Index, Malnutrition, Anthropomentric Measurements
