Study on deficiency of micronutrients leading to obesity in children of jabalpur city

Introduction: Childhood obesity is a condition in which body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health leading to various diseases. It was seen that 10% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese. Micronutrients are commonly referred to as “vitamins and minerals”. They are vital to the proper functioning of all our body systems. Micronutrient deficiency can lead to some serious health problems. The obese children with micronutrient deficiencies can suffer from iodine deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, iron deficiency etc. Objectives: The above study was carried out with the following objectives: 1. To calculate BMI of 7-9 years of children. 2.To check the tiffins of the children.3.To study micronutrient deficiencies in 7-9 years of obese children. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in Jabalpur city of Madhya Pradesh. The BMI of children from five affluent schools were calculated and those who had BMI greater than 95th percentile were considered to be obese. Their tiffins were checked out and the nutrients were calculated. Results: Observations in children from different schools revealed that the mean BMI in 7, 8, 9 years of children was 22.1 ± .92, 21.1 ± .03, 23.1 ± .27 respectively. The mean energy intake of 7 years of children was 713.0 ± 32.10, 8 years was 700.0 ± 29.28, 9 years was 698.36 ± 36.58. The mean protein intake in 7, 8, 9 years of children was 19.3 ± 2.9, 18.6 ± 3.44, 18.8 ± 3.2 respectively. The mean calcium intake in 7 years of children was 94.1 ± 24.9, 8 years was 89.4 ± 23.84, 9 years was 91.7 ± 23.4.The mean iron intake of 7, 8, 9 years of children was 5.27 ± 1.85, 5.00 ± 1.37, 5.07 ± 1.19 respectively. The mean vitamin A intake was found to be 376.39 ± 117.6 in 7 years, 340.82 ± 111.37 in 8 years and 352.46 ± 131.88 in 9 years of children. Conclusion: Thus, it was found that the children were deficient in calcium, iron and vitamin A which lead them to various nutritional problems like anaemia, goitre, vitamin A deficiency etc. The values of micronutrients were found to be very low when compared with recommended dietary allowances. Hence, the children were advised to include more of calcium, iron and vitamin A rich foods in their diet and for this a standardized booklet consisting of thirty nutritious tiffin recipes was distributed and requested to follow the necessary dietary guidelines. Puppet show, animated movie, leaflet, pamphlet, booklet and poster were also developed to enhance their nutritional knowledge and to improvise the status of their livelihood.