Double Burden of Malnutrition Among School-going Adolescent Girls in North India: A Cross-sectional Study

Context: Double burden of malnutrition comprising both undernutrition and overnutrition is nowadays emerging as a major public health concern among adolescent girls in India.

Aim: The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity among school-going adolescent girls along with dietary and physical activity-related factors associated with them.

Settings And Design: The present cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2400 school-going adolescent girls (10-19 years) in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh.

Subjects And Methods: Multistage sampling technique was used for enrolment of the study subjects. Data were collected on sociodemographic profile, physical activity, dietary intake, and anthropometry. WHO body mass index (BMI)-for-age cutoff classification of girls was used for assessment of underweight, overweight, and obesity.

Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was done with the Epi Info software. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to ascertain various predictors of underweight, overweight, and obesity among adolescent females ( < 0.05 was considered as significant).

Results: The proportion of underweight, overweight, and obese students were 47.0%, 5.9%, and 2.7%, respectively. The girls in mid and late adolescent age group were significantly less susceptible for being underweight for age (odds ratio [OR] 0.28; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.22-0.36; = 0.00). The girls belonging to middle and upper socioeconomic strata were about 35 times more susceptible toward obesity (OR 35.12; 95% CI 13.33-92.49; = 0.00) and 12 times more susceptible toward being overweight (OR 12.46; 95% CI 13.33-92.49; = 0.00) as compared to those in lower income groups. The probability of overweight and obesity were about 3 times (OR 3.13; 95% CI 1.76-5.55; = 0.00) and 10 times (OR 9.66; 95% CI 4.00-23.35; = 0.00) higher among adolescent girls who reside in urban areas as compared to rural one. Apart from these, non-Hindu religion, nuclear type of family, parent's education profile of middle school and above, and engagement in physical activities more than 2 h a day were other factors found to be directly associated with increased chances of overweight/obesity (OR > 1; < 0.05).

Conclusions: The high prevalence of the double burden of malnutrition revealed the need of the hour to modify and strengthen the existing adolescent health programs of India so as to deal with both the facets of nutrition spectrum substantially.