Anthropometric Measurements of Rural and Urban Slum Infants of Varanasi

Abstract

Growth in infant and young children is a sensitive index of the general state of health. The observations of growth are of utmost importance particularly during infancy and childhood, as it determines the success and failure of dietary habits and child rearing practices of the society. The monitoring of growth and development to detect deviations from normal, provides one of the simplest, but important method of assessing the health of a child. In order to understand the problem of malnutrition in infants, a study was conducted by recording various anthropometric measurements like weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference, head circumference and chest circumference of infants in some rural and urban slum areas of Varanasi.