The association between socio-economic factors and nutritional status among children: evidence from Nagaland, North-East India

The association between socio-economic factors and nutritional status among children: evidence from Nagaland, North-East India

The study on children’s nutrition is important in order to understand the health status of the population, especially in a developing country like India, where the coexistence of both under nutrition and over nutrition is becoming a public health concern. Under this backdrop, a cross-sectional study was done to examine the nutritional status of the Ao Naga boys from Nagaland, North-East India, and its association with socio-economic factors. Anthropometric data such as height and weight were collected. Nutritional status was assessed using Body Mass Index (BMI) following the classification made by Cole et al. Data on socio-economic status was collected using appropriate schedule. In order to test the level of significance at 0.05 levels, chi-square test was used. The result showed that, BMI increased with an advancement of age, and the prevalence of underweight decreased slightly with age in a fluctuating pattern. There was a significant variability of BMI regarding socio-economic indicator in relation to income group. Children belonging to better socio-economic status were taller, heavier, and fatter than their non-affluent counterparts. Both underweight and overweight co-existed among the children, although underweight was significantly higher

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