Nutritional assessment with skinfold thickness and body- fat proportion in tribal and urban schoolchildren in Nashik district: A cross sectional study

CONTEXT: Skinfold thickness (SFT) and body-fat (BF%) are infrequently used for childhood undernutrition. AIMS: (a) Estimation of SFT at peripheral and truncal sites (b) Estimation of BF% from SFTs (c) Correlate SFT estimates with MUAC, BMI and Waist. (d) Compare rural/tribal SFTs with urban schoolchildren. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Ashram schools in rural/tribal settings and one urban school. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Using three stage sampling, four tribal schools were randomly selected and an urban school was added for comparison. A sub sample of 405 students in the age group of 7 to 15 years were included. Height, weight, MUAC and SFTs were measured BF% was estimated with Slaughter equation. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Using Excel, Epi Info 7.1 and R software, appropriate t tests were applied for comparisons, and correlation was estimated between the quantitative variables. RESULTS: Average SFT among schoolchildren (405) was 6.64 mm. Girls (n = 215) had a BF% of 13.1%, while boys (n = 190) had BF at 11.5%. Average SFT for boys (6.69) and girls (6.48) had no statistically significant difference (t = 1.3, P = 0.1929). Boys had higher average peripheral SFT than truncal SFT while girls had higher truncal SFTs. In girls subscapular SFT was higher than triceps SFT. Median BF% in rural was lower than urban schoolchildren. BF% correlated strongly with BMI (0.56), Waist (0.63), Hip (0.61) and MUAC (0.59). CONCLUSION: SFT and BF % can be effectively used to detect undernutrition. Geographical and Gender differences are observed. SFT and BF% correlated well with BMI and MUAC.