J. Biosci. | Vol. 26 | No. 4 | Suppl. | November 2001
Nutritional status of the Indian population
489
partly responsible for increased prevalences of adult
diseases. The rural population may experience similar
risks even at a relatively lower level of shift in diet
pattern.
Finally, it cannot be denied that formulating appropriate
programmes and strategies are essential but effective
implementation is the key to success. Efforts are necessary
for exploring non-nutritional avenues such as imparting
knowledge about nutritional needs during pregnancy,
lactation and infancy, and creating nutritional and health
awareness among young rural girls to ensure a better
quality of life for the next generation.
Acknowledgements
I am thankful to Dr V S Rao for providing necessary
facilities to carry out various community research pro-
jects. I am also thankful to my colleagues Dr Kanade,
Dr Joshi, Dr Gokhale and Mr Girigosavi who have been
active participants in various community nutrition projects
undertaken in this Department.
References
Agarwal D K, Agarwal K N, Upadhyay S K, Mittal R, Prakash
R and Rai S 1992 Physical and sexual growth pattern of
affluent children from 5 to 18 years of age; Indian Paediat.
29 12031283
Barker D J P 1998 Mothers, babies and health in Later life
(Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone)
Bhatia B, Banerjee B, Agarwal D K and Agarwal K N 1981
Dietary intakes of urban and rural pregnant, lactating and
non-pregnant, non-lactating vegetarian women of Varanasi;
Indian J. Med. Res. 74 680687
Bulatao R A and Stephens P W 1992 Global estimates and
projections of mortality by cause 19702015; Working Paper
Series No. 1007 (Population and Human Resources Depart-
ment, The World Bank)
Dasgupta P and Das S R 1997 A cross-sectional growth study
of trunk and limb segments of the Bengali boys of Calcutta;
Ann. Hum. Biol. 24 363369
Dugdale A E and Payne E R 1975 Pattern of fat and lean
deposition in children; Nature (London) 256 725727
Elvevoll E O and James D G 2001 Potential benefits of fish for
maternal, foetal and neonatal nutrition; a review of literature;
Food Nutr. Agric. 27 2837
Eveleth P B and Tanner J M 1976 Worldwide variation in
human growth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) pp
222240
Fall C H D 1995 Weight in infancy and prevalence of coronary
heart disease in adult life; Br. Med. J. 310 1719
Gopalan C 1994 Low birth weight: Significance and implica-
tions. Nutrition in children, developing country concerns
(New Delhi: Imprint)
Grover I 1982 Effect of dietary intake, maternal factors and
socio-economic factors on birth weight of infants in rural
Haryana; Indian J. Nutr. Dietet. 19 8086
Hutter I 1996 Reduction of food intake during pregnancy in
rural South India; Trop. Med. Int. Health 1 399405
Joshi S B 1996 Studies of variation in growth patterns of
rural pre-school (15 yrs) children; Ph.D. thesis, University
of Pune, Pune
Joshi S B, Kanade A N and Rao S 1998 Growth pattern of rural
Indian boys aged 818 years: A longitudinal study; Indian J.
Nutr. Dietet. 35 149156
Kanade A N, Joshi S B and Rao S 1999 Undernutrition and
adolescent growth among rural Indian boys; Indian Pediatr.
36 145156
Kramer M 1993 Effects of energy and protein intakes on preg-
nancy outcome: An overview of the research evidence from
controlled clinical trials; Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 58 627635
Law C M 1993 Initiation of hypertension inutero and its
amplification throughout life; Br. Med. J. 306 2427
Lithell H O, McKeigue P M, Berglund L, Mohsen R, Lithell
U B and Leon D A 1996 Relation of size at birth to
noninsulin dependent diabetes and insulin concentration in
men aged 5060 years; Br. Med. J. 312 406410
Philips D I W 1996 Insulin resistance as a programmed
response to fetal undernutrition; Diabetologia 36 11191122
Pojda J and Kelley L 2000 Low birth weight; ACC/SCN
Nutrition Policy Paper No. 18
Rao S and Joshi S 1992 Importance of periodic measurements
in evaluating feeding programmes; Indian J. Med. Res. B96
4552
Rao S, Joshi S B and Kanade A N 1998a Height velocity, body
fat and menarcheal age of Indian girls; Indian Pediatr. 35
619626
Rao S, Kanade A N and Joshi S B 1998b Height, weight and
menarcheal age of rural Indian girls; Indian J. Nutr. Dietet.
35 117128
Rao S, Joshi S B and Kelkar R S 2000a Changes in nutritional
status and morbidity over time among pre-school children
from slums in Pune, India; Indian Pediatr. 37 1060
1071
Rao S, Joshi S B and Kanade A N 2000b Growth in some
physical dimensions in relations to adolescent growth spurt
among rural Indian boys; Ann. Hum. Biol. 27 127138
Rao S, Yajnik C S, Kanade A, Fall, C H D, Margetts B M,
Jakson A A, Shier R, Joshi S, Rege S, Lubree H and Desai B
2001 Intake of micronutrient-rich foods in rural Indian
mothers is associated with the size of their babies at birth:
Pune Maternal Nutrition Study; J. Nutr. 131 12171224
Rawtani L and Varma M 1989 A study of nutritional status and
food practices of the pregnant and lactating women residing
in selected desert areas of Jodhpur; Indian J. Nutr. Diet 26
304310
Seidell J C, Kahn H S, Williamson D F, Lissner L and Valdez R
2001 Report from a Centres for Disease Control and Preven-
tion Workshop on use of adult Anthropometry for public
health and primary health care; Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 73 123
126
Tanner J M, Hayashi T, Preece M A and Cameron N 1982
Increase in length of leg relative to trunk in Japanese children
and adults from 19571977: Comparison with British and
Japanese Americans; Ann. Hum. Biol. 9 411423
Vijayalaxmi P, Kuputhai U and Meenakshi Devi N 1988
Nutritional profile of selected expectant mothers and the cost
of pregnancy; Indian J. Nutr. Diet 25 247253
Vijayalaxmi P and Lakshmi R N 1985 Reproductive perfor-
mance of expectant mothers; Indian J. Nutr. Diet 22 3641
Study 