Abstract
CROSS-SECTIONAL GROWTH STUDY AMONG REDDI SCHOOL CHILDREN OF CHITTOOR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

Present study is undertaken to observe growth patterns in the age group of 11-18 years and find out bisexual variation in growth trends on Reddi boys and girls from Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. This study is exploratory in nature; a cross-sectional method has been employed to collect the data from 200 boys and 200 girls aged between 11-18 years. Standard techniques, instruments and procedures are followed in the collection and analysis of the anthropometric measurements. The growth characteristics of 9 measurements are classified into six anatomically meaningful categories. Based on these measurements 3 indices have been derived to study the changes in the shape of the body dimensions. Results show that the boys at all ages have higher values than girls for almost all measurements. It is also found that at the mean weight of girls are more than the boys at the age of 13-15 years. At conclusion present cross-sectional study indicates the nature of growth trends among boys and girls of a specific population, namely Reddis, and comparative data from other specific population groups of the region shall help to draw a final conclusion regarding the inter-population variation.