title: Health and nutritional status of boys aged 6 to 12 years in a children observation home.
abstract: One hundred and ninety two boys in the age group 6 to 12 years, living in a Children Observation Home in Delhi were studied for their nutritional status and morbidity profile. Body Mass Index (BMI), an age-independent index was used to grade the nutritional status according to which, 36.7% of the boys were found to be malnourished. Signs of specific nutritional deficiencies were observed in 13.5% of the boys. Morbidity in some form or the other was present in 148 (60%) boys. Skin disease was the commonest morbidity (31.7%), followed by diseases of the oral cavity (16.1%), acute respiratory infections (8.6%) and diseases of the ear (9.9%). Need for health promotional activities is stressed to reduce the morbidity and improve the health status of these children.
authors.affiliation: Department of P.S.M., Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chhabra
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Bansal
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002669:Child Welfare; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D019372:Orphanages; D014504:Urban Health