Mental health and nutritional issues: a dual burden among adolescent school going girls of urban and rural Jodhpur
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20214573Keywords:
Adolescent, Female, Cross-sectional study, Mental health, Nutritional status, MalnutritionAbstract
Background: Adolescents constitute 21% of the total population in India. Untreated mental disorders affect a person’s potential to live a fulfilling life and raises the possibility of conduct disorders. Moreover, malnutrition leads to growth retardation and sexual maturation in later life. Thus, this study was undertaken to understand the role of family size, socio-economic status, marital status on mental and nutritional health of adolescent girls in urban and rural Jodhpur.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study in three schools each from rural and urban Jodhpur was conducted to include adolescent girls aged 10-19 years. Semi-structured questionnaire was administered to collect demographic and socio-economic data along with DASS-21 and SMFQ for mental health assessment and BMI, waist-hip ratio collected for nutritional health.
Results: Depression score ≥10 was observed in 34.3% girls (significantly associated with monthly attendance), anxiety score ≥10 observed in 64.8% (associated with socio-economic class and monthly attendance) and stress score ≥10 observed in 26.2% (associated with monthly attendance). Th e17.4% were thin while 4.7% overweight, significantly associated with location, age group and socio-economic class. The 5% were at increased metabolic risk, associated with non-participation in extra-curricular activities.
Conclusions: The study indicated high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress, nutritional imbalance and risk of metabolic disorders at an early age, that were significantly associated with the low monthly attendance indicating negative impact of such factors on regular education and academic growth. The findings highlight a greater emphasis needed on mental health and nutritional components during the active growth years of adolescent females.
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