1Senior Program Officer, Jhpiego—an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University
2Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore
3Chief Coach & I/C, Centre of Excellence, Sports Authority of India, Bangalore
Online published on 1 October, 2015.
The Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) is a condition where the BMI is less than 18.5 kg/m2. In the field of adolescent nutrition, there is a dearth of research on CED in Indian subcontinent. In this context, present research was planned to assess the prevalence of Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) among the adolescents in the age group of 15–19 years.
The study was conducted among the adolescents (15–19 years) studying in the Pre University Colleges. Using pretested structured questionnaire the socio-personal information such as age, sex, religion, type of family and their dietary practices such as type of diet and intake of snacks were collected. The anthropometric measurements such as standing height and body weight and percentage body fat were measured. The perception of body weight and body image was also studied among these subjects.
A total of 1170 (males 53.1% and females 46.9%) subjects were analyzed. The prevalence of CED was 48.6%. The mean percentage of body fat among those with CED, normal BMI and obesity was 16.0%, 22.6% and 29.4% respectively and the difference between the three groups was statistically significant (P <0.0001) with CED subjects having the lowest mean percentage body fat. When the actual prevalence of CED is 48.6%, only 18.3% of subjects were aware that they have a low BMI.
CED is significantly prevalent and there is a need to create awareness and initiate measures to tackle this problem at the early age.
Chronic Energy Deficiency, prevalence, adolescents, percentage body fat, perception of body image
