Physical Growth among Rongmei Naga Adolescents of Manipur

Background: Growth study of children is proxy to health of any population. Growth status of a child is a reflection of the overall health of the society, hence growth assessment is considered as the best way to evaluate the health and nutritional of the children. The growth and development of a child is influenced by both-genetic and environmental factors. Aims and Objectives: This paper tries to assess the growth of stature, sitting height, body weight, head length and breadth in terms of annual increment among children aged 11-19 years of Rongmei Naga tribe of Manipur state of Indian Union Material and Methods: Data was collected by door to door survey methods during Dec 2016 to Jan 2017 using anthropometer rod, weighing machine and spreading caliper. The data was collected in a semi-structured scheduled. The samples were from Tarung Village of District West Imphal of Manipur State. A total 61 boys and 53 girls were measured to achieve the goal. Results: There were differences in growth between boys and girls of Rongmei Naga, but boys were observed to be less growth than girls in most cases. Discussion: Analysis of growth data based on anthropometric measurements shows that mean values of height were observed to be lower than the standard mean values of height of the same age groups of WHO.. The present study indicates that there is no sexual dimorphism among Rongmei Naga adolescents in height vertex, body weight, sitting height, head length and head breadth (barring a few exceptions). This is a very unique finding as it is in contradiction to the worldwide studies which show majority of the populations has sexual dimorphism in these measurements. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the mean values of anthropometric measurements (Body weight, height, sitting height, maximum head length and head breadth,) increase with the age, but at different rate at the different age levels. The difference in pattern of growth among male and females was found to be non-significant.