Very high prevalence of thinness using new international body mass index cut off points among 5-10 year old school children of nandigram, west Bengal, India

BACKGROUND: To assess the prevalence of thinness among 5-10 year old school children of Nandigram, Purba Medinipur District of West Bengal, India. METHODS: A total of 596 students (323 boys and 288 girls) aged 5-10 years were included in this crosssectional study. Height and weight were measured and the body mass index (BMI) was computed. The new international BMI-based classification cut-off points proposed by Cole et al were utilized to identify thinness. RESULTS: The overall (age-combined) mean BMI among boys and girls were 13.9 kg/m(2) (SD = 1.4) and 13.8 kg/m(2) (SD = 1.2), respectively. In general, mean BMI increased with age in both sexes. There was no significant sex difference in mean BMI. The overall (age-combined) prevalence of thinness was 62.9% and 61.6% in boys and girls, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study clearly indicated that the nutritional situation of these children was unsatisfactory.