Nutritional Status of Rural Adolescent School Children in Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal

There is little information on the nutritional status of adolescent school children from rural West Bengal. The present study was undertaken to ascertain the level of undernutrition among 11-18 year old rural school children in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal. This cross-sectional study was conducted in a higher secondary school, situated in a rural area within the Paschim Medinipur Sadar north sub-division about 29 Km from Midnapore town. Verification of age was done from the school records, as well from the answers to specific questions in the pre-tested questionnaire which was completed by every subject. A total of 1094 students, out of 665 (60.8%) boys and 429 (39.2%) girls age