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Lean body mass in preschool aged urban children in India: gender difference
S Shaikh1, D Mahalanabis, S Chatterjee
1Society for Applied Studies, Kolkata, India.
Insights
Lean body mass (LBM) in Indian preschool children shows significant gender disparities. Girls experienced more stunting and declining LBM with age, unlike boys, indicating potential deprivation.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Human Physiology
- Anthropometry
Background:
- Assessing lean body mass (LBM) is crucial for understanding child growth and nutritional status.
- Previous studies have not extensively detailed LBM in Indian preschool populations, particularly concerning gender differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate lean body mass (LBM) in Indian preschool-aged boys and girls.
- To investigate potential gender-based differences in LBM and its association with age.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 245 children (1-5 years) from urban poor in Kolkata, India.
- Measurements included height, weight, and total body resistance using multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).
- Lean body mass (LBM) was calculated using anthropometric and BIA equations, with statistical analysis via ANOVA and multiple linear regression.
Main Results:
- Girls exhibited higher rates of stunting (P<0.001) and being underweight (P<0.047) compared to boys.
- Mean LBM percentage was significantly higher in boys than girls, both by anthropometry (P<0.001) and BIA (P<0.005), even after age adjustment.
- LBM percentage declined with increasing age in girls, contrasting with boys and reference data where it increased.
Conclusions:
- Indian preschool girls demonstrate poorer nutritional status (stunting, underweight) and distinct LBM trends compared to boys.
- The age-related decline in LBM percentage among girls suggests potential hidden nutritional deprivation.
- These findings highlight the need for targeted nutritional interventions for female children in this population.
Objective:
To estimate lean body mass (LBM) in preschool aged boys and girls in India and explore gender difference.
Design:
Crossectional.
Setting:
Immunization clinic of a charitable Government General Hospital in Kolkata, India.
Subjects:
Two-hundred and forty-five children (147 boys and 98 girls) aged 1-5 y from among the urban poor were admitted in the study between July 1999 and December 2000. Children with acute or chronic illness or congenital malformation were excluded.
Method:
Length/height to the nearest 0.1 cm, weight to the nearest 10 g and total body resistance using multifrequency bioelectrical (Xitron 4000B) impedance analyzer (BIA) at 50 kHz were measured. Their nutritional status was compared with National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) median data and lean body mass (LBM) was calculated using anthropometry and BIA equations. The groups were compared using analysis of variance and multiple linear regression.
Results:
Girls were more stunted (P<0.001) and underweight (P<0.047), while the degree of wasting was similar. Mean LBM percentage was higher in boys compared with girls by anthropometry (P<0.001) and BIA (P<0.005), which persisted after adjusting for age. With increasing age, LBM percentage declined in girls (P<0.02) in contrast to reference girls, in whom it increased. In boys LBM percentage increased with age as is in reference boys.
Conclusions:
In addition to the girls being more stunted and underweight, LBM% decreased in girls with increasing age but steadily increased in boys, suggesting hidden deprivation of female children.