Present study is an attempt to analyse nutritional health status by the use of age and sex specific Body Mass Index thresholds of Bhotia tribal children of Garhwal Himalayas. BMI cutoff points for thinness grades 1, 2, 3 age and sex wise percentile curves passing through BMI of 16, 17, and 18.5 and for normal range of BMI of 18.5 to 23 kg/m2 have been used to evaluate the status of children as thin, normal, overweight and obese. A total of 643 children (336 boys and 307 girls) aged 6-18 years had participated in the present study. Bhotia tribe is one of the oldest inhabitants of mountains region of Garhwal and Kumaun, Central Himalaya. Rice and millets is the staple food of Bhotias and salty butter tea or namkeen chai (Jya) is also consumed very frequently by them, wild herbs and medicinal plants also contribute into their diets. Present study revealed that prevalence of grade-one thinness was 13.02 percent among girls and 6.84 percent among boys, Boys also having grade two and three thinness (0.29%), 88.69 percent boys and 75.24 percent girls were having normal BMI. The frequency of overweight individuals was 3.86 percent among the boys and 11.72 percent among girls, No child has been identified as obese. This is probably because the Bhotias lived in high altitude mountainous region where supplies of nutritious and surplus food through out the year is very difficult, but the girls makes a better use of food provided to them and manage to put subcutaneous fat on their body whereas boys has maintained normal health.
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