Abstract:

scanty information on body composition characteristics among preschool children from underprivileged communities of India. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study was designed to assess the body composition characteristics among Sabar preschool children aged 1-5 years. The present study was conducted at six different villages of three blocks under Purulia district, West Bengal, India. The subjects were randomly selected from house-to-house visit from studied villages. Significant age variations were noticed in mean height, weight, and Body mass index (BMI) among both sexes. Boys showed significant age variation in mean triceps skinfold thickness (TRISKF), whereas the girls showed significant age variation in mean Mid-upper arm circumference. Maximum significant age variation was observed in mean height (Boys: F = 52.36, P < 0.001; Girls: F = 49.78, P < 0.001), and minimum significant age variation was noticed in mean TRISKF among boys (F = 3.78, P < 0.05) and in mean BMI (F = 5.13, P < 0.05). Age-combined mean values of percent body fat (PBF) and fat mass (FM) were significantly higher among girls (20.39% and 2.36 kg) than boys (16.17% and1.84 kg). The Pearson correlation coefficients (r) showed that body composition measurers were significantly correlated with the majority of variables among these children. In conclusion, the results revealed that PBF, FM, and fat-free mass were good indicators to measure the degree of fat deposition, which could be used as a nutritional indicator in terms of leanness.

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