Science Journal of Sociology and Anthropology
November 2011,Volume 2011, ISSN:2276-6359
© Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Short Communication
Leanness among pre-school children of Bali Gram Panchayat, Arambag, West Bengal, India
Gopal Chandra Mandal1 and Kaushik Bose2
1Reader in Anthropology, Bangabasi College, Kolkata, India.
2Associate Professor in Anthropology, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, India.
Accepted 7 September 2011; Available Online November 2011
Abstract:
Malnutrition is a problem in developing countries including India. Anthropometry is a single tool to assess its magnitude. The estimation of leanness may be one of the indicators. This study was undertaken at 20 ICDS centers in Arambagh, West Bengal, India on 894 children. The prevalence of leanness among girls was very high (34.6%) in comparison to boys (25.6%). There was significant association between overall rate of leanness and sex of the studied children (x2 = 3.95; df =2, p < 0.05). Our results demonstrated that these pre-school children had rates of leanness which was indicative of nutritional stress
Keyword: Leanness; India; Bengal; Pre-school children