Nutritional Status of Adolescent Girls in Corporation Schools in India: Still the Goal is Far Ahead

Abstract

Adolescence is a vulnerable period for the incidence of malnutrition, as rapid growth takes place in this phase of life. Malnutrition, especially among adolescent girls, adversely affects future generations and indirectly impedes national productivity. Maternal malnutrition also contributes significantly to maternal mortality. It is required to be reduced to 70 per lac live births in 2030 from 167 per lac live births in 2013 to achieve sustainable development goals. The other crucial sustainable development goal is improvement in nutritional status in all phases of life. In the present study, we assessed the healthy situation by Body mass index and Haemoglobin estimation of adolescent girls incorporation school located at Pimpri, Pune, India. Most of the girls belonged to lower-middle to middle socioeconomic status. 67.9% of AGs under study were malnourished, while 8.6% were overweight. Only 3.5% of them had Haemoglobin in the normal range, 1% had severe, 65% of adolescent girls understudy had moderate anemia, and the rest had mild anemia. Results of the study show that India is still far away from attaining Sustainable development goals regarding the nutrition of adolescent girls and will have to take great efforts by existing program evaluation, modification, and strict implementation.