This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and

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1 This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier s archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit:

2 l HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) l Body form and nutritional status among adult males of different social groups in Orissa and Bihar States in India S. Chakrabarty a, M. Pal b, S. Bharati c, P. Bharati a, a Biological Anthropology Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata , West Bengal, India b Economic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata , West Bengal, India c Sociological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata , West Bengal, India Received 12 March 2007; accepted 1 November 2007 Abstract This paper aims to carry out a biological investigation of the body form and nutritional status of the major social groups of Orissa and Bihar States in India. For this, Cormic Index (CI) and Body Mass Index (BMI) have been computed using data on height, sitting height and weight, taken from adult males of age years of various ethnic groups in these two states. The subjects have been classified on the basis of chronic energy deficiency (CED). It is found that a substantial proportion of the people with CED are in the grade II and grade III categories. ANOVA, t-tests, correlation and regression were carried out separately. The results reveal that in Orissa, Scheduled Tribes are shorter, lighter and have lowest mean values of BMI and Cormic Index compared to other groups, but in Bihar, though the Scheduled Tribes are shorter, Scheduled Castes are lower in weight and have the lowest mean values of BMI. There are significant differences in BMI as well as in CI between Scheduled Tribes of Orissa and Bihar. Scheduled Castes and Tribes of Bihar have the highest percentage of CED with 64.71% and 57.45%, respectively. Muslims of Bihar are also affected (52.95%), but overall prevalence of CED is lower in Orissa (49.11%) than in Bihar (54.62%). BMI and CI are highly correlated for each of the social groups in Bihar and Orissa. r 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Corresponding author. Tel.: ; fax: addresses: bharati@isical.ac.in, pbharati@gmail.com (P. Bharati) X/$ - see front matter r 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi: /j.jchb

3 236 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) Introduction Anthropometric measurements have assumed a major role in exploring body form (body size and shape) and nutritional status of populations over time (Gorstein and Akre, 1988; Ruff, 2002). These methods are simple and inexpensive compared to other existing methods (FAO, 1996). Generally, the measurements of body size (height, weight) and relative indices (relative sitting height) reflect body shape (e.g. Body Mass Index). These are often used to measure the nutritional status of a population (WHO, 1995). There are various ways of measuring nutritional status of adults (Lohman et al., 1988), but Body Mass Index (BMI) is most widely used and is suitable for large-scale surveys (James et al., 1988; Ulijaszek and Kerr, 1999; WHO, 1995). It has been proposed that BMI can be used as a practical measure of chronic energy deficiency (Ferro-Luzzi et al., 1992; James et al., 1988). But BMI has several limitations (Banerji et al., 1999; Immink et al., 1992; Norgan, 1990, 1994). One of these limitations is that relative sitting height (sitting height/height) or Cormic Index (CI) indicate, that body proportions may overestimate or underestimate BMI in different populations (Norgan, 1995). Therefore, it is necessary to adjust BMI on CI to correctly understand the population differences based on body shape or BMI (Norgan, 1995). Information regarding population differences based on adult BMI (mean and distribution) can be used for assessing differences in the standard of living between population groups (Nube et al., 1998). That is so, because there is now substantial evidence that low BMI reflects poorer health and reduced physical capacity (James, 1994). A higher mortality rate has been found to be associated with low BMI (Harris et al., 1993). Morbidity and low BMI may be considered as ill health factors (Khongsdier, 2002). A cutoff point of 18.5 kg/m 2 for BMI has been accepted for demarcating persons with less than normal nutritional status from persons with normal nutritional status. The poor demographic, economic, social and environmental conditions are also related to undernutrition, which is defined as BMI being less than 18.5 kg/m 2 (Pryer and Rogers, 2006; Subramanian and Smith, 2006). Although human populations show a wide variation in height and weight as the major expression of different genetic make-up (Eveleth and Tanner, 1990; Majumder et al., 1990) at the population level, BMI may be considered as the major expression of nutritional consumption rather than genetic predisposition (Rolland-Cachera, 1993). Hence, the usefulness of BMI as an anthropometric indicator of nutritional status in a country with diverse ethnic groups like India (Khongsdier, 2001, p. 375) is beyond any question. Eastern parts of India, specifically the States of Orissa and Bihar, are considered to be the poorest States in India in the context of socio-economic and infrastructural development over time. These are manifested by high rate of undernutrition, particularly in rural areas. There are within and between State differences in nutritional conditions among various social groups as well as communities. Each and every social group has their unique body form with respect to size and shape, which may be manifested in the prevalence of undernutrition. It is well established that the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes in India are socio-economically

4 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) disadvantaged compared to the rest of the Indian population that is, to other castes and Muslims (Ghosh and Bharati, 2006). In the Indian context, large-scale studies have been conducted on South Indian (Ferro-Luzzi et al., 1992), Northeastern (Khongsdier, 2001) and Central Indian populations (Adak et al., 2006) regarding population differences of BMI and nutritional status among different social groups (castes and tribes). But these studies have not considered the relative influence of body proportions (CI) on body shape (BMI) in understanding population differences. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt has been made to make a general biological examination of body form among adult males of different social groups (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, General and Other Castes and Muslims) in the States of Orissa and Bihar in Eastern India and, to show how this body form is manifested by nutritional status. Population The Indian caste system is highly complex. There exists a traditional hereditary system of social stratification in India, in which social classes are defined by a hierarchical endogamous Chaturvarna system of social groups. For many years, the Chaturvarna system used to be the descriptive social superstructure of Hindu society in the Indian subcontinent. The Brahmins, a priestly caste, are at the top of this system. Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, rulers and businessmen, are in the middle position, and Sudras are at the bottom. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribal communities have been accorded special status by the Constitution of India. These communities (now within Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) were previously considered outcastes and excluded from the Chaturvarna system. Traditionally, these communities had been regarded as the most menial labourers with no possibility of upward social mobility. They are the most disadvantaged group in India. The Scheduled Tribes have been unable to participate in the mainstream of the Indian society and thus, were deprived of any opportunity for integration with the rest of the society. The Scheduled Castes are also known as Dalits and Scheduled Tribes are referred to as Adivasis. After independence, the Constituent Assembly defined Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This body made the President and Governors responsible for compiling a full listing of castes and tribes within these two groups, and also gave them the power to edit this listing later, as required (see Constituent Assembly, articles 341 and 342). The actual complete listing of castes and tribes was made via two orders, The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, and The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, respectively. In terms of indices of development, the States of Orissa and Bihar are considered as disadvantaged states. Orissa has million people comprising 16.5% from Scheduled Castes and 22.1% from Scheduled Tribes. The population of Bihar is more than double of that of Orissa with million people, of which 15.7% are from Scheduled Castes and 0.9% are from Scheduled Tribes (Census of India, 2001).

5 238 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) According to the 1991 census of India, the Scheduled Tribal population of Bihar comprised 7.66% of the total state population. This difference between two censi is due to the fact that the major portion of the tribal population from Bihar is now in Jharkhond State, a new Indian state formed from some parts of former Bihar and Orissa territories. Materials and methods Scheduled Castes Altogether 11 Scheduled Caste communities, i.e. Agaria, Ghasi, Keota, Pana and Teli of Orissa and Chamar, Teli, Kumhar, Bauri, Dusadh and Methar of Bihar are taken into consideration in the present study. Scheduled Tribes Similarly, altogether 13 Scheduled Tribes communities (seven of Orissa namely Bhuiya, Gond, Khond, Munda, Paroja, Santal, Savara and six of Bihar namely Bhuiya, Munda, Santal, Oraon, Ho, Tharu) have been chosen for the present study. General and Other Castes Other than Scheduled Castes and Tribes, a total of 15 General and Other Caste communities are considered for the study, in which Brahmin and Kahandayat communities in Orissa and Brahmin, Rajput, Goala and Yadav communities in Bihar occupy high positions in the social hierarchy. Muslims The Muslims have no caste hierarchy. They are taken as a distinct social group having their own Shia and Sunni subdivisions. The anthropometric data presented in this study were obtained from a baseline cross-sectional anthropometric survey conducted in the 1980s by the Anthropological Survey of India in Orissa (Bhowmik and Basu, 1989) and Bihar (Ghosh et al., 1988). The original data were examined and restructured by one of the authors. The study sample consisted of 9075 adult males, aged years. As stated by Basu and Sreenath (1995), the ideal random sampling procedure was not feasible due to the large sample size of this anthropometric survey and hence no strict sampling design was attempted. However, efforts were made to see that in the total sample of the district all the various social and ethnic groups in that district were represented. On the basis of prior information from district headquarters and other available published and unpublished sources about the dispersion and concentration of population groups in a State, samples were drawn from well-defined social groups of

6 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) different social ranks and from different locations of habitations in a district. The samples have been taken on a district level from both urban and rural areas but mostly from rural areas. Educational institutions, ceremonial and political gatherings have been avoided for taking measurements. Adult individuals who were available and cooperated to give measurements were included in the study. Subjects were not chosen on the basis of bodily structure and proportion. However, care was taken to avoid measurements of more than one individual belonging to the same family and to exclude persons with physical deformities (Basu and Sreenath, 1995). The data were collected using standard techniques (Martin and Saller, 1956) and by trained physical anthropologists. The trained investigators visited the sampled households and took physical measurements at the respondents residences. The data were collected giving appropriate representations of different social ranks such as castes, tribes and religious groups (Bhowmik and Basu, 1989; Ghosh et al., 1988). Efforts were made to take measurements from apparently normal adult males and to get samples free from any selection bias. In the present study, we have considered only the body height (cm), sitting height (cm), weight (kg) and age as on the last birthday. We computed relative sitting height or Cormic Index (sitting height/height) and also Body Mass Index (weight/height 2 ). The subjects were classified on the basis of chronic energy deficiency (CED) grades (James et al., 1988; WHO, 1995) as follows: Classification Cutoff points (BMI ¼ kg/m 2 ) CED grade III (severe thinness) o16.00 CED grade II (moderate thinness) CED grade I (mild thinness) Normal Overweight Obese X30.00 The populations were classified into four major social groups namely General and Other Castes (GN), Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Muslims (MUS). There were 21 communities altogether comprising these four groups in both Orissa and Bihar. We calculated mean and standard deviation of heights, sitting heights, weights, BMI and CI for each community. The means and standard deviations were also found for each of the social groups. It was thought that age and CI may be an interfering variable for understanding social group differences based on BMI. It was thus necessary to remove the effect of age and CI from BMI. To do this, we regressed BMI on age and CI. If the effect of CI is removed from BMI then it should give a better picture about the variation of BMI within and between the communities and social groups. In addition to the adjustment of BMI by age, we can adjust BMI by CI. Within each community/social group there is more homogeneity in food habits, occupational patterns, marriage and other social customs compared to between

7 240 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) communities/social groups. It is customary among the different communities/social groups to arrange marriage within the communities/social groups. This has genetic implications. If this situation persists for a long time, it will be reflected in body form and general level of nutrition. Thus, we expect that variation between the groups will be larger than the variation within the group. To see within and between group variation of BMI, we have carried out ANOVA for BMI, age-adjusted BMI and age and CI adjusted BMI. It may be worth to regress BMI on CI for each community. Since the number of communities is too large, we have reported only the average R 2 values that show the goodness-of-fit of regressions. If this average is higher than the R 2 considering all communities together then it will imply that the relation between BMI and CI is stronger within each group on the average than when all groups are considered together. Results Mean and standard deviation of height, sitting height, weight, Body Mass Index, and Cormic Index of four social groups from the States of Orissa and Bihar (21 communities from each state) were presented in Table 1. Within four major social groups (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, General and Other Caste and Muslim) in Orissa, Scheduled Tribal groups were shorter (height), lighter (weight) and had lowest mean values of relative sitting height (CI) compared to other social groups. In Bihar, though the Scheduled Tribal groups were shorter (height) and had the lowest mean values of relative sitting height (CI), Scheduled Caste groups were lighter and had the lowest mean values of BMI compared to other social groups. Bhuiya of Orissa, were the shortest ( cm) among the 42 communities of Orissa and Bihar States. The Yadav of Bihar, were the tallest ( cm). Surprisingly, the next tallest group ( cm) was the Agaria, Scheduled Caste of Orissa and they were also heavier (53.57 kg) than other communities of Orissa. Brahmins of Bihar were the heaviest (53.79 kg) out of all 42 communities. The Mehtar of Bihar had the lowest mean value of weight (41.60 kg) followed by Paroja tribes of Orissa (44.28 kg). The Paroja tribes were also very lean and thin (mean BMI 17.31). All the 42 communities were very lean and the mean BMI varied between among Brahmin of Bihar and among Bauri, Scheduled Caste of Bihar. The Nulia community of Orissa had comparatively high BMI (19.62) and was much closer to the Brahmin and Rajput communities of Bihar. The lowest value of Cormic Index was among the Ho Scheduled Tribes in Bihar (0.499) with a corresponding value of BMI (17.75), whereas the Brahmin of Orissa showed high Cormic Index (0.516) with the highest mean BMI (19.75). Table 2 shows the distribution of mean BMI by age and social group. A trend of increase in the mean level of BMI with age has been noticed in all cases except in the Scheduled Caste communities and in one case from the Scheduled Tribe communities. The mean BMI values were approximately similar in different age groups among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of Orissa and Bihar.

8 Table 1. Mean and standard deviations of anthropometric measurements and indices Population N Height (cm) SD Sitting height (cm) SD Weight (kg) SD BMI SD Cormic Index SD Orissa Scheduled Caste Agaria Ghasi Keota Pana Teli Scheduled Tribe Bhuiya Gond Khond Munda Paroja Santal Savara General and Other Caste Brahmin Kumbhar Chasa Gaura Karan Kahandayat Nulia Tanti Muslims Total S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008)

9 Table 1. (continued ) 242 Population N Height (cm) SD Sitting height (cm) SD Weight (kg) SD BMI SD Cormic Index SD Bihar Scheduled Caste Chamar Teli Kumhar Bauri Dusadh Mehtar Scheduled Tribe Bhuiya Munda Santal Oraon Ho Tharu General and Other Caste Brahmin Rajput Tanti Ahir Kurmi Kayastha Goala Yadav Muslim Total Overall total S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008)

10 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) Table 2. Age and social group wise mean BMI State Social group Age group All ages p25 years years 450 years n Mean n Mean n Mean n Mean Orissa SC ST GN MUS Total Bihar SC ST GN MUS Total SC, Scheduled Caste; ST, Scheduled Tribe; GN, General and Other Caste; MUS, Muslim. Table 3. Significance levels (t-statistics) of differences of means of Cormic Index (above diagonal) and BMI (below diagonal) for various ethnic groups of Orissa and Bihar States in India Population Orissa Bihar SC ST GN MUS SC ST GN MUS Orissa SC 3.84 ** 0.74 ns 0.61 ns 6.49 ** 8.55 ** 2.57 * 4.39 ** ST 3.60 ** 4.77 ** 3.78 ** 1.86 ns 3.89 ** 4.77 ** 0.44 ns GN 1.10 ns 2.66 ** 0.07 ns 8.37 ** ** 3.97 ** 5.56 ** MUS 1.09 ns 3.73 ** 2.00 * 5.79 ** 7.55 ** 0.07 ns 4.15 ** Bihar SC 8.84 ** 4.55 ** 8.73 ** 7.72 ** 2.36 * 2.47 * 1.43 ns ST 6.14 ** 2.11 * 5.26 ** 5.74 ** 2.99 ** 3.99 ** 3.45 ** GN 1.37 ns 3.30 ** 2.68 ** 0.27 ns 7.89 ** 5.22 ** 0.96 ns MUS 1.39 ns 1.91 ns 0.52 ns 2.01 * 6.47 ** 4.03 ** 2.16 * * po0.05; ** po0.01; ns p SC, Scheduled Caste; ST, Scheduled Tribe; GN, General and Other Caste; MUS, Muslim. The statistical tests of significance for differences of mean of BMI as well as Cormic Index between pairs of four social groups (within and between States) are presented in Table 3. It was noticed that there were high differences in CI whenever there were high differences in BMI. It was also found that between-state differences were greater than within-state differences. Apart from a few exceptions, there were

11 244 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) significant differences in BMI and Cormic Index between most of the pairs. The differences were more prominent between Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with other groups. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of Bihar had the lowest BMI values. There would naturally be very highly significant difference of BMI of Scheduled Castes and Tribes of Bihar if compared with all other communities in Bihar and all communities in Orissa including Scheduled Caste and Tribe communities. General and Other Castes and Muslims were very close with respect to both BMI and CI. In general, we may put Scheduled Castes and Tribes in one group and General and Other Caste and Muslims in another group. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the variation within and between communities and social groups in Orissa was smaller than those in Bihar (Table 4a). Since it was thought that a part of variation in BMI may be due to variation in age, we have eliminated the effect of age from BMI and performed the ANOVA for the age-adjusted BMI. The results were almost the same as those of unadjusted BMI (Table 4b). Thus, age was not an interfering factor. Since BMI and CI have been related, it was also necessary to further adjust BMI by CI. The result of ANOVA of age and CI adjusted BMI was given in Table 4c. This time, betweengroup variation had decreased in all cases. Within-group variation had also slightly decreased. As a result, between-group variation compared to within-group variation had decreased in all cases except for communities in Orissa. The connection between CI and BMI prompted us to consider correlation and regression between CI and BMI (Table 5a). The correlation was nonnegative for all the cases and these were found to be significantly different from zero for all cases based on F-test of R 2. The fact that the correlation coefficients were positive could be seen from the regression coefficients associated with CI being positive in all the cases. The correlation was the highest among the Scheduled Tribes of Orissa and the lowest among the Scheduled Castes of Bihar. The correlation coefficient was calculated to see whether BMI and CI were linearly related. The regression between the two should also give the same picture. The correlation and regression results have been found to be similar also for age-adjusted BMI (Table 5b). The nutritional status of the social groups will be clearer if we consider the percentage distributions of BMI (Table 6a). Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of Bihar have the highest number of cases of chronic energy deficiencies (CED) with 64.71% and 57.45%, respectively. Muslims of Bihar are also affected (52.95%). The position of Orissa is much better, for all communities except Scheduled Tribes with a rate of more than 50% of CED, compared to Bihar except for General and Other Castes of Bihar. Thus, it also signifies that there are greater diversities of nutritional status in Bihar. Though the prevalence of CED in the General and Other Caste groups of Orissa is slightly higher (48.37%) than in the General and Other Caste groups of Bihar (46.58%), the overall prevalence of CED of Orissa (49.11%) is lower than that of Bihar (54.62%). Table 6b shows the age and social group distribution of CED. Percentage of CED is seen to decrease as age increases among General and Other Caste and Muslim social groups in both Orissa and Bihar States. The findings corroborate those seen with the mean BMI values given in Table 3.

12 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) Table 4. One-way analysis of variance for BMI (a), age-adjusted BMI (b), and age and CI adjusted BMI (c) among different communities and social groups Source Degrees of freedom Sum of squares Mean square F-ratio Significance level (a) BMI Orissa Between communities Within communities Total Bihar Between communities Within communities Total Orissa Between social groups Within social groups Total Bihar Between social groups Within social groups Total (b) Age-adjusted BMI Orissa Between communities Within communities Total Bihar Between communities Within communities Total Orissa Between social groups Within social groups Total Bihar Between social groups Within social groups Total

13 246 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) Table 4. (continued ) Source Degrees of freedom Sum of squares Mean square F-ratio Significance level (c) Age and CI adjusted BMI Orissa Between communities Within communities Total Bihar Between communities Within communities Total Orissa Between social groups Within social groups Total Bihar Between social groups Within social groups Total Discussion The four major social groups of Orissa and Bihar States in Eastern India differ much in their body proportions (CI) and body shape (BMI). The results are in agreement with the findings of Adak et al. (2006) who studied social groups in Central India. They have also found that the Scheduled Tribes are shorter than other social groups of the same area. The shortness in height and Cormic Index (CI) may result in lower mean BMI among Scheduled Tribes. It is interesting to note that the mean BMI of adult males of the Munda tribe (18.65) of the peri-urban region of West Bengal State of India (Ghosh and Bharati, 2006) is higher compared to the Munda tribes of Bihar (18.55) but lower than the Munda tribes of Orissa (19.11). These variations may be due to the impact of socio-economic and nutritional conditions across the States in India among the Munda tribes. The mean BMI values are important in predicting morbidity. Khongsdier (2002) found the mean BMI of the War Khasi tribes of Northeast India to be 19.18, among those who reported illness and among those who reported no illness. The mean BMI in Orissa (18.80) and in Bihar (18.61), irrespective of their social group, have been found to be lower than that of the Northeastern population (19.14) and adult Indian males

14 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) Table 5. Linear regression of BMI (a) and age-adjusted BMI (b) on CI by social group State Social group Regression coefficients Goodness-of-fit Intercept Significance Coefficient of CI Significance R 2 Significance (a) BMI Orissa SC ST GN MUS Total Bihar SC ST GN MUS Total (b) Age-adjusted BMI Orissa SC ST GN MUS Total Bihar SC ST GN MUS Total SC, Scheduled Caste; ST, Scheduled Tribe; GN, General and Other Caste; MUS, Muslim. (18.90) in the years (Naidu and Rao, 1994). In fact, means of BMI in Orissa and Bihar are lower than those of most other communities in India (Bharati, 1989; Rao et al., 1990, 1995; Reddy, 1998). These values are, however, slightly higher than those of Central Indian population (18.43) and higher than those of South Indian male adults (17.70) (Ferro-Luzzi et al., 1992). Wang et al. (1996) argued that Asian males had a smaller BMI (23.3) than other White, Black and Peurto Rican social groups. It was suggested that BMI is positively correlated with Cormic Index (Norgan, 1994), and the present results also show this relation. The same relations are also found in caste populations in Nepal (Strickland and Tuffrey, 1997). In the Asia Pacific region, the Australian Aborigines (0.475) also show a low value of Cormic Index and BMI and these are positively correlated (Norgan, 1995). Although the influence of nutrition on BMI is more plausible than genetics (Rolland-Cachera, 1993), the significant positive correlation may also be due to

15 248 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) Table 6a. Percentage distribution of BMI of different communities and social groups of Orissa and Bihar in India Population CED Grade III (o16.0) CED Grade II ( ) CED Grade I ( ) Normal Overweight ( ) (X25.00) Orissa Scheduled Caste Agaria Ghasi Keota Pana Teli Scheduled Tribe Bhuiya Gond Khond Munda Paroja Santal Savara General and Other Caste Brahmin Kumbhar Chasa Gaura Karan Kahandayat Nulia Tanti Muslims Total Bihar Scheduled Caste Chamar Teli Kumhar Bauri Dusadh Mehtar

16 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) Table 6a. (continued ) Population CED Grade III (o16.0) CED Grade II ( ) CED Grade I ( ) Normal Overweight ( ) (X25.00) Scheduled Tribe Bhuiya Munda Santal Oraon Ho Tharu General and Other Caste Brahmin Rajput Tanti Ahir Kurmi Kayastha Goala Yadav Muslim Total Table 6b. Percentage of CED (BMI o18.50 kg/m 2 ) by age and social group State Social group Age group All ages p25 years years 450 years n %CED n %CED n %CED n %CED Orissa SC ST GN MUS Total Bihar SC ST GN MUS Total SC, Scheduled Caste; ST, Scheduled Tribe; GN, General and Other Caste; MUS, Muslim.

17 250 S. Chakrabarty et al. / HOMO Journal of Comparative Human Biology 59 (2008) other environmental and genetic factors (Khongsdier, 2001). Most likely, it is a result of particular body form, possibly a somatotype. Individuals with large trunks and short legs will have different values of both indices from those individuals whose trunks are small and legs long. A higher correlation between BMI and CI possibly implies that each community maintains a separate identity from other groups. Lean and thin body with a low weight to surface area ratio is one of the general characteristics of the people living in tropical and subtropical climates (Schreider, 1968). This may be one of the reasons for the high prevalence of formally classified CED grade I in most of the communities in Orissa and Bihar States in India as mentioned by others (Adak et al., 2006; Khongsdier, 2001). A substantial proportion of CED grade II and III males of Orissa and Bihar States, however, indicate the high prevalence of undernutrition, specifically in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribal groups, which may be due to poor socio-economic conditions. References Adak, D.K., Gautam, R.K., Bharati, S., Gharami, A.K., Pal, M., Bharati, P., Body mass index and chronic energy deficiency of adult males of central Indian populations. Hum. Biol. 78, Banerji, M.A., Faridi, N., Atluri, R., Chaiken, R.L., Lebovitz, H.E., Body composition, visceral fat, leptin, and insulin resistance in Asian Indian men. J. Clin. Endocrin. Metab. 84, Basu, A., Sreenath, J., Anthropometric Variations in Assam, Bihar and Orissa. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta. Bharati, P., Variation in adult body dimensions in relation to economic condition among the Mahishyas of Howrah district, West Bengal, India. Ann. Hum. Biol. 16, Bhowmik, D.C., Basu, A., All India Anthropometric Survey, North Zone, Basic Anthropometric Data, Vol. 3, Orissa, Calcutta. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta. Census of India, Registrar General and Census Commissioner. Controller of Publication, New Dehli. Eveleth, P.B., Tanner, J.M., Worldwide Variation in Human Growth, second ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Ferro-Luzzi, A., Sette, S., Franklin, M., James, W.P.T., A simplified approach of assessing adult chronic energy deficiency. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 46, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Sixth World Food Survey. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Ghosh, R., Bharati, P., Nutritional status of adults among Munda and Pod populations in a peri urban area of Kolkata City, India. Asia Pac. J. Public Health 18, Ghosh, G.C., Bose, M.P., Kumar, G.D., Mody, G.S., Bose, D.K., Huq, F., Basu, A., All India Anthropometric Survey, North Zone, Basic Anthropometric Data, Vol. 2, Bihar. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta. Gorstein, J., Akre, J., The use of anthropometry to assess nutritional status. World Health Stat. Q. 41, Harris, T.B., Ballard-Barbasch, R., Madan, J., Makuc, D.M., Feldman, J.J., Overweight, weight loss, and risk of coronary heart disease in older women. The NHANES I Follow-up Study. Am. J. Epidemiol. 137, Immink, M.D.C., Flores, R., Diaz, E.O., Body mass index, body composition and the chronic energy deficiency classification of rural adult populations in Guatemala. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 46, James, W.P.T., Introduction: the challenge of adult chronic energy deficiency. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 48, S1 S9. James, W.P.T., Ferro-Luzzi, A., Waterlow, J.C., Definition of chronic energy deficiency in adults. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 42, Khongsdier, R., Body mass index of adult males in 12 populations of northeast India. Ann. Hum. Biol. 28, Khongsdier, R., Body mass index and morbidity in adult males of the War Khasi in northeast India. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 56,

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