Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T00:52:24.976Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

VARIATION IN HEIGHT AND BMI OF ADULT INDIANS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2013

SUPARNA SOM ,
STANLEY ULIJASZEK ,
MANORANJAN PAL ,
SUSMITA BHARATI  and
PREMANANDA BHARATI
SUPARNA SOM
Affiliation:
Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
STANLEY ULIJASZEK
Affiliation:
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity, University of Oxford, UK
MANORANJAN PAL
Affiliation:
Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
SUSMITA BHARATI
Affiliation:
Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
PREMANANDA BHARATI*
Affiliation:
Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
*
1Corresponding author: Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

It is well known that height and weight are interrelated, and that both are related to socioeconomic variables. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of socioeconomic variables on the heights and weights of different groups of people, formed according to different levels of heights and weights, and to see whether there are sex differences in the variations in heights and weights. Data for adults aged 15–49 years were taken from the India National Family Health Survey-3 and descriptive studies and multiple linear regression analyses carried out. A clear positive association was found for height and BMI with economic level (except for overweight females in the case of BMI). In the case of BMI, it is age that seems to be the most influential factor. Surprisingly, the observed changes in height and BMI are not as expected for short and tall or underweight and overweight people; these sometimes behave in the opposite directions to that of normal height and weight people. The basic assumption of multivariate normality is not valid due to changing relations at different height and BMI levels.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , January 2014 , pp. 47 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adak, D. K., Gautam, R. K., Bharati, S., Gharami, A. K., Pal, M. & Bharati, P. (2006) Body mass index and chronic energy deficiency of adult males of central Indian populations. Human Biology 78, 201–218. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Akachi, Y. & Canning, D. (2008) The mortality and morbidity transitions in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from adult heights. Program on the Global Demography of Ageing, Working Paper 33. Google Scholar
Arokiasamy, P. (2004) Regional patterns of sex bias and excess female child mortality in India. Population-E 59, 833–864. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhalotra, S. (2007) Little women. Paper presented at the Indian Statistical Institute Platinum Jubilee Conference, Delhi, December 2007. Google Scholar
Bharati, P. (1989) Variation in adult body dimensions in relation to economic condition among the Mahishyas of Howrah district, West Bengal, India. Annals of Human Biology 16, 529–541. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bharati, S., Mukherji, D., Pal, M., Som, S., Adak, D. K., Vasulu, T. S. & Bharati, P. (2010) Influence of ethnicity, geography and climate on the variation of stature among Indian populations. Collegium Anthropologicum 34, 1207–1213. Google ScholarPubMed
Brennan, L., McDonald, J. & Shlomowitz, R. (2003) Long-term change in Indian health. Journal of South Asian Studies 26, 51–69. Google Scholar
Deaton, A. (2008) Height, health and inequality: the distribution of adult heights in India. American Economic Review 98, 468–474. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeRose, L. E., Das, M. & Millman, S. R. (2000) Does female disadvantage mean lower access to food? Population and Development Review 26, 517–547. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eveleth, P. B & Tanner, J. M. (1990) Worldwide Variation in Human Growth, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Google Scholar
Filmer, D., King, E. M. & Pritchett, L. (1998) Gender disparity in South Asia: comparisons between and within countries. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 1867. World Bank, Washington, DC. Google Scholar
Gautam, R. K., Adak, D. K., Gharami, A. K. & Datta, T. (2006) Body mass index in central India: inter district variation. Anthropologischer Anzeiger 64, 1–15. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffiths, P. L. & Bentley, M. E. (2001) The nutrition transition is underway in India. Journal of Nutrition 131, 2692–2700. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guntupalli, A. M. & Baten, J. (2006) The development and inequality of heights in North, West and East India 1915–1944. Explorations in Economic History 43, 578–608. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guntupalli, A. M. & Moradi, A. (2009) Gender dimorphism: discrimination in rural India, 1930–1975. In Pal, M., Bharati, P., Ghosh, B. & Vasalu, T. S. (eds) Gender and Discrimination. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp. 259–278. Google Scholar
Gwatkin, D. R., Rutstein, S., Johnson, K., Pande, R. P. & Wagstaff, A. (2000) Socioeconomic Differences in Health, Nutrition and Poverty. HNP/Poverty Thematic Group of the World Bank. World Bank, Washington, DC. Google Scholar
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) (2007) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) 2005–06, Vol. 1. India. IIPS, Mumbai. Google Scholar
Kathrotia, R. G., Swapnil, J., Paralikar, P., Rao, V. & Oommen, E. R. (2010) Impact of different grades of body mass index on left ventricular structure and function. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 54, 149–156. Google ScholarPubMed
Khongsdier, R. (2001) Body mass index of adult males in 12 populations of Northeast India. Annals of Human Biology 28, 374–383. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khongsdier, R. (2002) Body mass index and morbidity in adult males of the War Khasi in Northeast India. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56, 484–489. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Komlos, J. & Baten, J. (1998) The Biological Standard of Living in Comparative Perspective. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart. Google Scholar
Mendez, M. A., Monteiro, C. A. & Popkin, B. M. (2005) Overweight exceeds underweight among women in most developing countries. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 81, 714–721. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) (1991) Body Mass Index and Mortality rates: A 10 year Retrospective Study. Annual Report, 1989–90. NIN, Hyderabad. Google Scholar
Perkins, J. M., Khan, K. T., Smith, G. D. & Subramanian, S. V. (2011) Patterns and trends of adult height in India in 2005–2006. Economics and Human Biology 9, 184–193. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pryer, J. A & Rogers, S. (2006) Epidemiology of undernutrition in Dhaka slum households, Bangladesh. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 60, 815–822. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radhakrishna, R. & Ravi, C. (2004) Malnutrition in India: trends and determinants. Economics and Political Weekly XXXIV(7), 14–20. Google Scholar
Reddy, B. R. (1998) Body mass index and its association with socioeconomic and behavioural variables among socioeconomically heterogenous populations of Andhra Pradesh, India. Human Biology 70, 901–917. Google ScholarPubMed
Rolland-Cachera, M. F. (1993) Body composition during adolescence: methods, limitations, and determinants. Hormone Research 39 (Supplement 3), 25–40. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rotimi, C., Okosun, I., Johnson, L., Owaoje, E., Lawoyin, T., Asuzu, M., Kaufman, J., Adeyemo, A. & Cooper, R. (1999) The distribution and mortality impact of chronic energy deficiency among adult Nigerian men and women. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 53, 734–739. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roy, T. K., Kulkarni, S. & Vaidehi, Y. (2004) Social inequalities in health and nutrition in selected states. Economics and Political Weekly XXXIV(7), 14–20. Google Scholar
Sauvaget, C., Ramadas, K., Thomas, G., Vinoda, J., Thara, S. & Sankaranarayanan, R. (2008) Body mass index, weight change and mortality risk in a prospective study in India. International Journal of Epidemiology 37, 990–1004. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, V. (2008) Socio-economic status and adult heights in India. Masters Thesis, Madras School of Economics, Chennai. Google Scholar
Shetty, P. S & James, W. P. T. (1994) Body Mass Index: A Measure of Chronic Energy Deficiency in Adults. Food and Agricultural Organization, Food and Nutrition Paper No. 56. FAO, Rome. Google Scholar
Shukla, H. C., Gupta, P. C., Mehta, H. C. & Hebert, J. R. (2002) Descriptive epidemiology of body mass index of an urban adult population in western India. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 56, 876–880. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, I. P., Bhasin, M. K. & Malik, S. L. (1977) Anthropometric variables in Indian population: an environmental perspective. In Eiben, O. G. (ed.) Growth and Development: Physique. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest. Google ScholarPubMed
Singh, K. S., Bhalla, V. & Kaul, V. (1994) The Biological Variation in Indian Populations. People of India, National Series, Vol. X. Anthropological Survey of India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Google Scholar
Subramanian, S. V. & Smith, G. D. (2006) Patterns, distribution and determinants of under- and over-nutrition: a population based study in India. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 84, 633–640. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNICEF (2001) The State of the World's Children 2001–Early Childhood. UNICEF, New York. Google Scholar
Viswanathan, B. & Sharma, V. (2009) Socio-economic characteristics of the tall and not so tall women in India. Working Paper 41/2009, Madras School of Economics, Chennai. Google Scholar
World Health Organization (WHO) (1995) Physical Status: The Use and Interpretation of Anthropometry. WHO Technical Report Series No. 854. WHO, Geneva. Google Scholar
World Health Organization (WHO) (2007) WHO: BMI-for-age (5–19 years). URL: www.who.int/growthref/who2007_bmi_for_age/en/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (WHO) (2012) Global Database on Body Mass Index. URL: http://apps.who.int/bmi/index.jsp?introPage=intro_3.html. Google Scholar