Physical growth as described by Eveleth, P. & Tanner, J. (1990), is widely recognized as one of the most sensitive and reliable indicator of health and nutritional status in the human population. They further stated that growth and maturation are maintained by the interactions of genes, hormones, and nutrients, and it provides an indirect measurement of the quality of life of an entire population.
Vaid & Vaid (2005) opined that nutrition is the process by which living organisms receive and utilize the material necessary for the maintenance of their function as well as renewal of their function. The assessment of nutritional status is useful for understanding not only the health status of a community but also for the national and regional policy planning. In their opinion, childhood and adolescence are stages of great interest in the study of diet and assessment of nutrition, because it is a period during which the dietary habits of the future adult are consolidated. One of the major health problems in many developing countries is malnutrition (undernutrition and overnutrition) which creates a lasting effect on the growth, development, and physical fitness of a person. Undernutrition is difficult to quantify, but its presence is ordinarily established in public health and clinical contexts with the use of anthropometry, specifically weight and height. Undernutrition during infancy and early childhood receives most emphasis because of its association with morbidity and mortality early in life and its long-term consequences; however, undernutrition can occur at any time during the life cycle.
Furthermore, the terms overweight and obesity, on the other hand, are often used interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. Overweight is characterised by a moderate degree of excess weight-for-height, whereas obesity is a more severe state. Overweight and obesity are occasionally referred to as a state of overnutrition. They occur as a result of an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure in which intake exceeds expenditure; physical inactivity is an essential component of the equation.(Malina, et al, 2004).
In general, according to Bouchard (2000) overweight is more likely to result from behavioural factors such as dietary practices and the lack of physical activity, whereas obesity typically has a stronger behavioural and metabolic and possibly genetic etiology. It has been shown that overweight or obesity assessed by the body mass index (BMI) during childhood is a strong predictor of overweight or obesity and coronary heart disease risk factors in young adulthood. Overweight and obesity may occur in early childhood, but their prevalence is more common during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. They have associated functional consequences and long-term health implications.
References
Bouchard, C. (2000). “The obesity epidemic: introduction,” in Physical Activity and Obesity, C. Bouchard, Ed., pp. 3–20, Human Kinetics Books, Champaign, Ill, USA.
Eveleth, P. & Tanner, J. (1990). Worldwide Variation in Human Growth, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Mass, USA, 2nd edition
Malina, R.; Bouchard, C. & Bar-Or, O (2004) “Obesity in childhood and adolescence,” in Growth, Maturation, and Physical Activity, M. Malina, C. Bouchard, and O. Bar-Or, Eds., pp. 527–551, Human Kinetics Books, Champaign, Ill, USA, 2nd edition.
Vaid, S. & Vaid, N. (2005) “Nutritional status of ICDS and non-ICDS children,” Journal of Human Ecology, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 207–212,
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