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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Year : 2014  |  Volume : 7  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 259-260  

A study of socioeconomic influence on anthropometric measurements of children in an urban population of West Bengal


1 Department of Biochemistry, Calcutta National Medical College, West Bengal, India
2 Department of Physiology, BMCH, Burdwan, West Bengal, India
3 Department of Gynaecology and Obstretics, BMCH, Burdwan, West Bengal, India
4 Department of Physiology, Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Date of Web Publication4-Feb-2014

Correspondence Address:
Arunima Chaudhuri
Krishnasayar South, Borehat, Burdwan, West Bengal
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/0975-2870.126391

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How to cite this article:
Roy S, Chaudhuri A, Hazra SK, Saha S. A study of socioeconomic influence on anthropometric measurements of children in an urban population of West Bengal. Med J DY Patil Univ 2014;7:259-60

How to cite this URL:
Roy S, Chaudhuri A, Hazra SK, Saha S. A study of socioeconomic influence on anthropometric measurements of children in an urban population of West Bengal. Med J DY Patil Univ [serial online] 2014 [cited 2024 Mar 28];7:259-60. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/mjdy/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2014/7/2/259/126391

Sir,

Growth assessment is an essential component of pediatric health surveillance, and anthropometric measurements are considered as the most important parameters. On set of early puberty is associated with hormone-related cancers, but whether diet in childhood influences pubertal timing is controversial. Regarding growth in humans, there are three postnatal growth spurts, that is, infantile growth, midgrowth, and adolescent growth. [1],[2],[3]

The objectives of this study were to correlate physical growth, nutrition, and socioeconomic conditions in children in an urban industrialized population during the midgrowth spurt, so that early diagnosis of growth abnormalities maybe treated with lifestyle modifications and hormones and may improve the quality of life. Though there are many previous studies in this field, the scenario of a densely populated place like West Bengal where different populations of various communities stay together and follow different customs require special attention.

We wanted to conduct a pilot project to get an overview; so, 400 school-going children between the ages of six and eight without any gross systemic disease were selected from two different socioeconomic classes. Of them, 197 were girls and 203 were boys. According to the modified Kuppu swamy index, the average score of the high socioeconomic class (HC) group was 27 and lower middle class (LMC) group was 14. [4] The average per annum income of family of 200 children was Rs 49,999.92 (range: 40,000-60,000); so, they were classified as LMC. The average per annum income of family of 200 children was Rs 1,718,125.72 (range: 1,600,000-1,800,000); so, they were classified as high socioeconomic class (HC).The subjects were divided into three age groups (6 years, 7 years, and 8 years), as growth occurs in three spurts in the midgrowth spurt in children. Body weight and height (standing and sitting) were measured and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Arm span, skin fold thickness, chest, and circumference of head were also measured and Kanwati index calculated. The ratio of midarm circumference and head circumference is known as Kanwati index and is a useful criterion for the detection of malnutrition (values <0.28 to 0.31: malnutrition). No child below 0.31 index value was selected (range: 0.33-0.38). Student's t test was used to compare different parameters of different groups among males and females, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to study the correlation of weight, height, and skin fold thickness. A p value <0.05 was considered as significant and <0.01 as highly significant. Highly significant differences were noted in weight, height, BMI, and skin fold thickness in all age groups among both males and females between the two socio economic classes. No significant difference was noted in sitting height among the two classes in all groups except in the eight-year male group. No significant difference was noted in head circumference among the two classes in all groups. There was a positive significant correlation between weight and height and weight and skin fold thickness in both the socioeconomic groups for all ages. This signifies a normal growth pattern in the whole studied population.


  Discussion Top


Better nutrition, less number of children, and higher level of education may be the cause of higher BMI in the upper socioeconomic class in the present study. Nutrition and environmental factors have little role in head-to-chest circumference ratio and arm-to-height ratio in normal children irrespective of socioeconomic status. Further longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes is planned in the near future to get a better assessment of growth and nutrition of children in the present population.

 
  References Top

1.Gunther AL, Danckert NK, Kroke A, Remer T, Buyken AE. Dietary protein intake throughout childhood is associated with the timing of puberty. J Nutr 2010;140:565-71.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.Rockett JC, Lynch CD, Buck GM. Biomarkers for assessing reproductive development and health: Part 1-pubertal development. Environ Health Perspect 2004;112:105-12.  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.Valente EA, Sheehy ME, Avila JJ, Gutierres JA, Delmonico MJ, Lofgren IE. The effect of the addition of resistance training to a dietary education intervention on apolipoproteins and diet quality in overweight and obese older adults. Clin Interv Aging 2011;6:235-41.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.Kumar N, GuptaN, Kishore J. Kuppuswamy's socioeconomic scale: Updating income range for the year 2012. Indian J Public Health 2012;56:103-4.  Back to cited text no. 4
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