Age Trends in the Double Burden of Malnutrition (DBM) and Body Composition of the Jaunsari Adults of Uttarakhand, India

Koel Mukherjee, Pulamaghatta N. Venugopal, Kaustav Das and Mahua Chanak

Published: 2025/03/01

Abstract

To investigate the age trends in body composition related to the double burden of malnutrition (DBM), the present cross-sectional study was conducted among the Jaunsari people living in Lakhamandal village of Dehradun district of Uttarakhand, India. A total of 304 Jaunsari adults (134 males, 170 females, 18-60 years) were randomly selected. Information on their socio-demographic profile was collected through a standardised schedule and anthropometric measurements of height (HT), weight (WT), waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) were taken following standard procedure. Derived variables including body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), body fat percentage (BF %), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass index (FMI), and fat-free mass index (FFMI) were calculated. To assess nutritional status including abdominal obesity, the World Health Organization’s recommended cut-off values for BMI, WC and WHR were used. Results revealed the prevalence of overweight-obesity was higher among men than women (23.9 % vs. 22.4 %). Women were more undernourished (32.4 % vs. 26.9 %), but with higher abdominal obesity (WC: 21.2 % vs. 11.9 %, WHR: 30.0 % vs. 14.2 %). With increasing age, the mean values of most of the studied variables increased among women (except HT, FFM, FFMI, WHR). For men, the middle age group (26-39 years) exhibited the highest mean values for variables except BF %, FM, FMI, and WHR. The coexistence of undernutrition and overweight-obesity indicated the threat of DBM, demanding immediate nutritional intervention programmes among this community.

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