1.gif (1892 bytes)

Letters to the Editor

Indian Pediatrics 2005; 42:400

Gender Differences in Nutritional Status


A cross-sectional study was undertaken among 130 under five children of an urban slum of Kolkata, to assess the prevalence of malnutrition, with gender difference and age trend. Infants below six months of age were excluded to eliminate the effect of breast feeding. Grading of nutritional status was done according to IAP classification(1).

Prevalence of malnutrition was 55.38 per cent (females 77.6%; males 31.7%; P <0.001). Most of the cases of malnutrition were of Grades I and II, contrary to other authors(2,3); 7.67 per cent of girls and 15.0 per cent of boys were of Grade III malnutrition. Only two Grade IV cases were found in both the boys. More than half of the female infants were suffering from malnutrition, though all the male infants were of normal nutritional status, indicating lack of proper care of female children right from the first year of life. A significantly (P <0.05) increasing trend of malnutrition was observed with increase of birth order in the girls, but no such trend was observed in boys. This probably indicates a lack of interest and affection in higher orders of birth in case of girls, leading to improper care and inadequate nutrition.

Malnutrition is a serious public health problem which, occurring in a girl child, has grave aftermaths. Though Subrahmanyam, et al.(4) calculated the food intake of boys and girls, and found no bias against girls, it is a hard reality that in many parts of our country there is a definite negligence of the girl child.

Bratati Banerjee,
Lina Bandyopadhyay,

All India Institute of Hygiene and
Public Health,
110, Chittaranjan Avenue,
Kolkata - 700 073
Correspondence to:

Dr. Bratati Banerjee,

113 B, Lake Terrace,
Kolkata - 700 029,
E-mail: [email protected]
 

References

 

1. Ghai OP, Gupta P. Essential Preventive Medicine: A clinical and applied orientation. New Delhi; Vikas Publishing House Pvt.Ltd., 1999. p 140.

2. Ray SK, Mishra R, Biswas R, Kumar S, Halder A, Chatterjee T. Nutritional status of pavement dweller children of Calcutta city. Indian J Public Health 1999; 43 : 49-54.

3. Benjamin AI, Zachariah P. Nutritional status and feeding practices in under 3 years old children in a rural community in Ludhiana, Punjab. Health and Population - Perspectives and Issues 1993; 16: 3-21.

4. Subrahmanyam S, Nageswara Rao R. Gender bias in nutrition: Some issues. J Family Welfare 1995; 41: 1-9.

 

Home

Past Issue

About IP

About IAP

Feedback

Links

 Author Info.

  Subscription