Abstract
The primary causes of undernutrition in Bangladesh are its poverty, large population, socio-economic differences and inadequate access to health facilities. Adolescent are the most susceptible group for under nutrition and having great implication as they will be parent in future. Studies on the assessment of nutritional status of adolescents are less in number and have great implication for intervention. The present cross-sectional investigation evaluates the prevalence of undernutrition among rural adolescents (10 years - 17 years) from Chowhali subdistrict, Serajgonj, Bangladesh.The present investigation was conducted among 726 rural school-going adolescents (376 boys and 350 girls) belonging to the rural Muslim and Hindu communities. The nutritional status was assessed by anthropometry in terms of stunting (Height-for-age below 3rd percentile) and thinness (BMI-for-age below 5th percentile). The prevalence of stunting and thinness were high and estimated to be 46.6% and 42.4% respectively. The prevalence of stunting was estimated among boys (43.1%) and girls (50.3%) (p>0.05).Incase of boys of 17 years (63.6% ) and girls of age 15years (70%) prevalence is the highest. The mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of girls were more than the boys (16.8 ± 3.4 kg/m2 and 15.9 ± 2.1 kg/m2 respectively). The prevalence of thinness among boys (32.0) was more than the girls (32.0).The prevalence of thinness and stunting is high in the study area. Gender is a significant demographic factor of undernurition in the study area. Nutritional intervention and communication is necessary to improve their nutritional status.