Cross-Sectional Analysis of Nutritional Status, Knowledge and Uptake of Nutritional Services Among Adolescent Girls in Western India

Purpose: Malnutrition status of adolescent girls remains a major public health problem in India. The present study assessed nutritional status, associated factors contributing to malnutrition and their access to health-care services in Dev Bhumi Dwarka district of Gujarat situated in western part of India. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out using descriptive cross-sectional design. A total of 1252 adolescent girls from all four blocks of Dev Bhumi Dwarka district were interviewed by field investigators. The data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, physical activities, diet, and anthropometry. The WHO classification for body mass index (BMI) was used to assess underweight, overweight, and obesity among adolescent girls. Chi-square analyses were performed to identify significant determinants of under-nutrition. Results: Mean age of the study population was 13.82 +/- 2.31. Of the total, around 34% of the adolescent girls were out-of-school. The prevalence of underweight (<-2SD) was 19.6%, 8.9% were overweight, and 2.6% were obese. The mean BMI was 19.77 +/- 2.42 kg/m(2), and height was 149.15 (2.23m(2)). In terms of knowledge, almost 79.6% were unaware of iron deficiency anaemia, about 70% were not aware of haemoglobin test, and 44% did not know the benefit of using sanitary napkins. In addition, uptake of nutritional and health services was limited. The study found a statistically significant association of age (p = 0.00), the number of family members (p = 0.016), knowledge (p = 0.05), and use of toilet (0.041) with low-BMI. Conclusion: Existing nutritional interventions need to focus on nutrition, health and hygiene education. It also reinforces a need for implementation research to understand barriers in uptake of health and nutrition services.