Assessment of Nutritional Status of College-going Adolescent Girls (18+ years) Using Bioelectrical Impedance Analyzer (BIA)

Abstract

Nutritional anthropometry is a widely accepted and commonly used technique to determine health risks associated with malnutrition. However the uses of anthropometry in large epidemiological studies have certain limitations such as some degree of measurement error, lack of trained manpower and laborious measurement process. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) is recognized as an alternative tool to anthropometry and extensively studied its suitability to measure the nutritional status of the individuals in field settings. Hence, a cross sectional study was undertaken to assess the nutritional status of college going adolescent girls (18+ years of age) by using Bioelectrical Impedance Analyzer. Total of one hundred ninety three in-house students were selected for this study based on random sampling method. Socioeconomic background of the selected participants were collected through personal interview. KaradaScan Body Composition Monitor with Scale (Model HBF-362, Omron Healthcare Company Limited, Kyoto, Japan) was used to determine the body composition of the participants. The results showed that majority of the participants were Hindu (>90%), belong to Backward and Scheduled Caste community, father work as a coolie and earn Rs. 25,000-50,000/- per annum. Based on Body Mass Index (BMI) cut off point, 50% of the participants were normal (BMI 18.5 – 24.9 kg/m2), 40% of them were underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m2) and the remaining were overweight (BMI 25.0–30.0 kg/m2). Body composition analysis revealed that skeletal muscle and body fat content were 26.16±1.38 (ranged from 20 to 30%) and 29.02±3.56 % (ranged between 20 and 38%) of the total body weight respectively. Visceral and subcutaneous fat content were 2.70±1.65 and 22.38±4.38% of total body fat respectively. The findings indicate that the prevalence of undernutrition is higher among college going adolescent girls than over nutrition due to poor economic situation, faulty diet habits, peer pressure on body image, mental stress, lack of physical activity etc.