Anthropometric Assessment of Nutritional Status and Growth of 10 - 20 Years Old Individuals in Benin City (Nigeria) Metropolis

Abstract

Anthropometric assessment of the nutritional status and growth of 2,012 randomly selected males and females between the ages of 10 - 20 years was carried out by cross-sectional method in Benin City Metropolis. Anthropometrical indices considered were weight, height and arm circumference. Percentile values (10th, 50th, 90th) which represent the growth standards of males and females were established from this study. Comparisons were made by comparing the 50th centile curves for height and weight of males and females obtained from this study with those of the WHO/NCHS standards. The results of the comparison revealed that the 50th centile curves of subjects from Benin City consistently lagged behind those of WHO/NCHS standards for all the anthropometric variables considered, except the 50th centile curve of females for height which showed that the 50th centile curve of females from Benin City compared favourably with the WHO/NCHS standards, and do not fall below them. The interrelationship between the various anthropometric variables revealed that the correlation coefficients for males and females respectively were: Age and Weight (0.99 and 1.0), Age and Arm circumference (0.95 and 0.99), Height and Arm circumference (0.91 and 0.97) and,(0.97 and 0.98) for Weight and height. The age of puberty was determined from this study to be 15.5 years for females and 18 years for males.