Physical growth pattern for girls (9-17 yr) from rural West Bengal.

With a view to assessing the growth pattern, a cross-sectional study was made on 656 Indian Bengalee girls (aged 9-17 yr) of the lower and middle class families of rural West Bengal. The mean height and weight of the Bengalee girls were found to gradually increase up to the age of 17. The average age at menarche was 13 yr and the girls aged 13 yr (currently) reached 98 per cent of height and 83 per cent of weight, as compared to 17 yr old girls. The subjects were found to have heights and weights comparable with the American population while they were shorter and lighter than their British counterparts. On comparison with reported figures for girls of other Indian states, all the physical parameters were found to be almost identical at the age of 17 except for girls of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Bengalee girls studied by us were taller than their peers (in an earlier longitudinal study) up to 14 yr of age, but were similar at later ages. Bengalee girls in the present study were shorter and lighter as compared to the Indian norms for girls from higher socio-economic group, but were taller and heavier than those from the low socio-economic groups.