Underweight and Associated Factors Among Teenage Adolescent Girls in Resource-poor Settings: A Cross-sectional Study

Overview

Journal Risk Manag Healthc Policy

Publisher Dove Medical Press

Specialty Public Health

Date 2021 Jan 14

PMID 33442312

Citations 3

Authors

Jitendra Kumar Singh

Dilaram Acharya

Divya Rani

Salila Gautam

Kalpana Thapa Bajgain

Bishnu Bahadur Bajgain

Ji-Hyuk Park

Seok-Ju Yoo

Thomas G Poder

Antoine Lewin

Kwan Lee

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background And Purpose: Understanding the undernutrition status of teenage adolescent girls living in urban slums and its associated factors is meaningful to formulate customized health strategies. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of being underweight and associated factors among teenage adolescent girls in urban slums.

Materials And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled a total of 418 teenage adolescent girls from five of 210 urban slums of Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India employing two-stage probability sampling for the selection of households and subjects, between September 2016 and July 2017. The study of underwight subjects was assessed with BMI for age using standard criteria. Factors associated with being underweight were determined by multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Results: Of 418 study subjects, 49.76% (208/418) were underweight. Results revealed that sociodemographic factors such as teenage adolescent girls who were from SC/ST (schedule caste/schedule tribe) caste/ethnicity (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.02, 95%CI: 1.00-4.23), subjects whose father's education level was primary or lower (AOR=1.87, 95%CI: 1.12-3.11), and number of people in the family >4 (AOR=2.18, 95%CI: 1.18-4.03) were associated with being underweight. Likewise, dietary behavior-related factors such as vegetarian (AOR=2.21, 95%CI: 1.25-3.92), and <3 meals per day (AOR=2.36, 95%CI: 1.40-3.98) than their counterparts were associated with being underweight. In addition, teenage adolescent girls from food-insecure households (AOR=3.33, 95%CI: 2.01-5.51) were more likely to be underweight than those from food-secure households.

Conclusion: The higher burden of underweight among teenage adolescent girls in Indian urban slums needs to be addressed through specific public health interventions such as by improving education, providing education regarding dietary behavior, and having access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious foods.

Citing Articles

Prevalence and associated factors of undernutrition among adolescents in India: a systematic review.

Parida J, Bagepally B, Patra P, Pati S, Kaur H, Acharya S BMC Public Health. 2025; 25(1):819.

PMID: 40022033 PMC: 11871687. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-025-22054-2.

Wealth-based inequality in underweight among Scheduled Tribe women in India: a regional analysis.

Singh A, Singh A, Chakrabarty M, Singh S, Tripathi P Int J Equity Health. 2025; 24(1):27.

PMID: 39849479 PMC: 11756192. DOI: 10.1186/s12939-025-02392-8.

Undernutrition and associated factors among adolescent girls in Diga District, East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia.

Bobo E, Bikila H, Mekonen W, Fite M, Enkossa Ayana G, Etafa W PLoS One. 2024; 19(10):e0310225.

PMID: 39471188 PMC: 11521244. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310225.

Factors Influencing Undernutrition among Female Adolescent Students in Darchula District, Nepal.

Giri D, Vajanapoom N, Langkulsen U Nutrients. 2023; 15(7).

PMID: 37049539 PMC: 10097115. DOI: 10.3390/nu15071699.

Prevalence and determinants of undernutrition among adolescents in India: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Parida J, Jena Samanta L, Badamali J, Singh P, Patra P, Mishra B PLoS One. 2022; 17(1):e0263032.

PMID: 35073386 PMC: 8786165. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263032.

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