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Secular Trends in Heights and Weights in Boys and Girls Over 3 Decades in Rural India
Raja Sriswan Mamidi1, Hemalatha Rajkumar1, K V Radhakrishna1
11 Clinical Division, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, India.
Background:
Secular trends in height reported from developing countries are few and scarce.
Objective:
To assess secular trends in linear growth in boys and girls from birth to 18 years of life in rural households of India based on periodical cross-sectional surveys conducted over a period of 35 years.
Materials And Methods:
The present study uses data from baseline and final surveys of National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau from 1975 to 1979 (N = 6043) to 2012 to 2013 (N = 11 910) on anthropometry from birth to 18 years from 7 states in households of rural India.
Results:
The overall improvement in 18+ boys and girls was 3.1 and 1.0 cm, respectively, over a period of 35 years. The increments in height of 18+ were highest for both boys (7.4 cm) and girls (4.8 cm) in the state of Kerala followed by Tamil Nadu (boys, 7.3 cm and girls, 3.8 cm). Under-5 stunting rates reduced from 82% in the baseline survey to 45.7% in the final survey at 1.35% per year in the pooled states and was similar in both boys and girls. The recovery in stunting was highest in Tamil Nadu (1.63% per year) followed by Kerala (1.46% per year).
Conclusion:
The pattern of secular trends in height in rural India seen over 3 decades was strikingly similar to that of developed countries. The phenomenal improvement in linear growth in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in children younger than 5 years and adolescents suggests that growth potential for Indians is similar to that of developed countries.
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