A STUDY OF BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) AND HEALTH STATUS OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS OF PATAN CITY

Abstract

Dietary nutrients promote and maintain individual health. Puberty in girls is recognized as a special stage in her cycle of biological life that requires special attention in terms of nutrition and a balanced diet. Improper diet can lead to illness and malnutrition. India has high rates of malnutrition among her teenagers, according to data from the national nutrition monitoring service. Globally, an estimated 10% of children are overweight or obese, which poses health risks even into adulthood. Body mass index is a measure of weight based on a person's weight and height. It does not measure body fat percentage but is used to estimate a healthy weight based on a person's height, assuming average body composition. The researcher aimed to use BMI as a screening tool to check the health status of randomly selected 250 adolescent girls aged between 10-19 years of Patan city. Efforts were also made to analyze, predict and understand from these values future health-related problems in these subjects. Also, the researcher tried to check the role of diet on the value of BMI. From the below values, 53.6% (134/250) adolescent girls were found to be underweight, 36% (90/250) with normal nutritional status, & 8% (20/250) were categorized as overweight. While only 2.4% (6/250) of the study subjects were labelled as obese. Also when an analyzed researcher found that diet has an impact on BMI values the percentage of healthier girls was more in the vegetarian group (83/250) compared to non-vegetarian girls (7/250) although the difference is very high. Also, it was striking to note that the number of overweight girls in the vegetarian group (20/250) was found to be more compared to overweight non-vegetarian girls. That researcher can conclude that BMI, Diet and health are closely related to each other.