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Le generally lower than the values reported from other rural areas. Regional variat~ons
in growth hav~ been observed in India (Chattejee and Mandal.1991. Chatterlee and
Manda1,1994). These variations could be due to economtc, dietary, social, ethn~c
(~ncludin genetic) or environmental factors. It has been shown that the growth pattern
of children was influenced by economic status: those from the LSES being more
retarded in growth than those from the USES (Pereira et a1.,1983, Rao et a1..1984;
Sundaram et a1..1988; Qamra ef a1.,1990 c; Bhasin et a1.,1990; Gupta et a1,1990;
Singh et a1.,1996) The size of a growing child is also greatly influenced by the
env~ronment The fact that better environment could bring about better growth was
shown in Canadian born Punjabi children who were taller and heavier than native bon~
Punjabis (Rao,1956).
Among environmental factors, nutrition was of greater
importance than biologic factors
The underprivileged children were constantly
exposed to severe nutritional straln and hence were retarded in growth. In this study,
the d~etary intake was found to be inadequate and could be the main contributing factor
for retarded growth, in addition to the other factors discussed above.
5.5.2 Spectrum of illness, causes and health seeking behavior
la) General morbidity
Data from four souces were analyzed in th~s study, to know about the spectrum of
ll1ness in school age children. The sources were cross sectional morbidity survey,
Wh~rt study, records ma~ntained by the VHN and PHC, and tertiary care hospital
outpatient records. The analys~s revealed nutritional and infectious d~sorders to be the
most common morbidity in school age children. In the cross sectional survey, it Was
observed that among nutritional disorders undernutrition (57.840), anemia (57.1%),