Growth and Nutritional Status of Tribal Preschool Children: An Assessment Based on Body Circumferences

Biswajit Mahapatra and Kaushik Bose

Published: 2025/09/01

Abstract

In India, undernutrition is the most prevalent health issue among tribal preschool children. The present study describes growth and nutritional status among tribal preschool children based on mid-upper arm circumferences (MUAC) and head circumference (HC). It utilizes the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve to determine cut-off points for body circumferences as a screening tool for growth and nutritional status. The present study surveyed 848 tribal preschool children aged 12-71 months from two districts of West Bengal, India. Undernutrition was assessed using WHO standard reference values of age and sex specific HC and MUAC z scores (< -2SD). The prevalence of undernutrition assessed by MUAC and head circumferences was 35.3% and 60.7%, respectively. The overall undernutrition prevalence is 70.9%, consisting of 45.8% with one type of undernutrition (MUAC or HC) and 25.1% with undernutrition on both measures. Body circumferences showed a higher mean value in healthy children compared to children with nutritional deficiencies, in both boys and girls. Boys had significantly higher mean body circumferences than girls. The study reveals that HC-based nutritional deficiencies are more prevalent than MUAC-based. Assessment of undernutrition using body circumferences and circumference-to-height ratios supports early detection of undernutrition and impaired growth status among tribal preschool children.

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