A STUDY OF BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS (URINARY) IN THE ASSESSMENT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN (6-12 YEARS) OF VARANASI, U.P.

摘要

The present study was conducted on school children (age group, 6-12 years) belonged to two different schools - Nagarpalika and Public schools in different wards of Varanasi city. Five hundred and forty seven school children were selected by multi-stage random sampling method. The usefulness of biochemical parameters in the assessment of nutritional status of the children under field conditions was studied. The U/C and S/C ratios of malnourished children was lower than the children of normal health, indicating that their protein intake was lower. The protein intake of the children was below the recommended dietary allowances of ICMR. The U/C and S/C ratios can be used in field conditions to assess nutritional status, particularly protein intake and lean body mass. So there is a need to develop standards for these ratios in this country for pre-school and school children to be used as a reference for measuring changes in health and nutrition.