How do they grow? A study of south-eastern Nigerian adolescent girls.

This study assessed the nutritional status of Nigerian adolescent girls living in two areas of south-eastern Nigeria. A cross sectional survey was undertaken in a rural village in Ogoniland, and five secondary schools in Port Harcourt, south-eastern Nigeria. All (386) menarcheal girls aged 14-19 y living in the rural village, and a stratified cluster sample (845) of menarcheal girls aged 14-19 in the five urban schools were investigated. Mean heights and weights of rural girls were around -1 Z-score below the British reference median. 10.4% of rural and 4.7% of urban girls were stunted (< OR =2nd centile, British 1990 reference values). After calculating mean body mass index-for-age, various cut-off points for low body mass index were tested. At a cut-off of < OR =9th centile, 15.6% of rural and 8.0% of urban girls would be classified as thin. Girls with a haemoglobin <10.Og/dl were significantly more likely to have a low body mass index than those with haemoglobin values > OR =10.0 g/dl. More studies are needed to refine the definition and interpretation of low body mass index in adolescents.