Open Access Article│www.njcmindia.org pISSN 0976 3325│eISSN 2229 6816 National Journal of Community Medicine│Volume 4│Issue 1│Jan – Mar 2013 Page 35 Original Article ▌ NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND FACTORS AFFECTING NUTRITION AMONG ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN URBAN SLUMS OF DIBRUGARH, ASSAM Himashree Bhattacharyya 1 , Alak Barua 2 Financial Support: None declared Conflict of interest: None declared Copy right: The Journal retains the copyrights of this article. However, reproduction of this article in the part or total in any form is permissible with due acknowledgement of the source. How to cite this article: Bhattacharyya H, Barua A. Nutritional Status and Factors Affecting Nutrition among Adolescent Girls in Urban Slums of Dibrugarh, Assam. Natl J Community Med 2013; 4(1): 35-9. Author’s Affiliation: 1 Senior Resident Doctor, Department of Community Medicine, North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institue of Health & Medical Sciences, Shillong, Meghalaya; 2 Professor & Former Head, Department of Community Medicine, Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, Assam Correspondence: Dr. Himashree Bhattacharyya, Email: bhimashre@yahoo.co.in Date of Submission: 26-09-12 Date of Acceptance: 04-02-13 Date of Publication: 31-03-13 ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the nutritional status and and factors affecting nutrition of adolescent girls residing in urban slums of Dibrugarh town. Methods-A community based cross sectional study of 284 adolescent females in the age group 10-19 years was conducted in all the 10 slums in Dibrugarh town . The BMI for age <5 th percentile and height for age< 3 rd percentile or <-2 Z scoresof NCHS reference standard were used as criteria for thinness and stunting respectively. Results: The overall prevalence of thinness was 25.70% and the prevalence of stunting was 31.33%. A significant association was observed between the nutritional status of adolescents and the mother’s literacy level and family size. The various morbidities prevalent amongst the adolescent girls were found to be pallor (93.30%); menstrual problems (83.09%); dentalcaries (42.25%); angular stomatitis (35.56%); glossitis (34.15%); Skin problems (20.07 %); lymphadenopathy (10.21%) diarrhoea (7.04%), Goitre (4.22%) and bitots spots (0.35%). Key words: Adolescent, nutritional, anthropometry, stunting, thinness. INTRODUCTION The entire period of transition from childhood to adulthood is considered as adolescence. Adolescence begins with pubescence – the earliest signs of development of secondary sexual characteristics and continues until morphological and psychological changes approximate adult status. 1 It is the period when 35% of the adult weight and 11-18% of the adult height is acquired. 2 This crucial period of transition is identified by a range of age of 10-19 years by the World Health Organization. 3 The adolescents are generally expected to enjoy good health being less vulnerable than the very young or very old. But the actual picture is somewhat different. Inadequate diet and unfavourable environments in developing countries may adversely influence the growth