Dual Burden of Malnutrition Among the Girl Students of Bengali Medium School from South 24 Paraganas, West Bengal, India

Child nutritional status is an essential component of a country’s overall human development. There is a growing consensus that poor nutritional status during childhood (or even in uterus) can have long-lasting scarring consequences into adulthood, both in terms of health and mortality, and in terms of other measures of human capital such as schooling and productivity (Behrman et al., 2006). Research indicates that nutritional deficiencies and poor health in primary school age children are among the causes of low school enrolment, high absenteeism, early dropout and poor classroom performance (WHO, 1997). Undernutrition continues to be a primary cause of ill-health and premature mortality among children in developing countries (Nandy et al.,2005). As in other developing nations, malnourishment is a burden on considerable percentage of population, the most vulnerable being the youngest of this country (Chatterjee and Saha, 2008). On the other hand, child obesity is increasing rapidly worldwide. Childhood obesity has more than tripled in last 40 years (Ogden et al., 2010). Obesity has become a Global health problem, affecting more than 1.3 billion adults in both developed and developing countries (WHO, 2005). It is believed that, 50 – 80% of obese children will continue to be obese as adults (Styne, 2001). In developing country like India, especially in urban population, childhood obesity is emerging as a major health problem (Shetty, 1999)