A cross sectional study of the physical growth status was made on 655 Kamar children
(341 boys and 314 girls), aged 5 to 18 years, in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh.
The study aimed to find out the growth pattern of the Kamar children, which is considered
to be a primitive tribe of Chhattisgarh, India and was compared with another Indian
tribe and the official data for all India (ICMR). Anthropometric measurements included
height, weight, sitting height, biacromial diameter, biilliocristal diameter, upper
arm circumference, calf circumference and measurements of the triceps and subscapular
skinfolds. All anthropometric measurements except skinfold thickenness exhibit
uniform increase with age in both sexes. However, when height and weight of the Kamar
boys and girls were compared with the data for other tribes and for all India, the Kamar
children (both boys and girls) indicated lower weight and height and the difference
showed to be significant, for almost all ages. Kamar boys showed higher anthropometric
values than girls in almost all measurements except in biilliocristal diameter and in
measured skinfolds. Poor socio-economic status of this primitive tribe may be one of the
reasons for this poor growth pattern. However, in-depth study is necessary in order to
arrive at any basic conclusions and to recommend any policy and interventions
