Aim: Present study aims to assess the physical growth and body composition among the Bengali adolescents of Darjeeling district.

Materials and Methods: Present community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among the adolescents of Matigara block under Siliguri sub-division of Darjeeling district. Total 392 adolescents (190 boys; 202 girls) under the age groups of 11-17 years were included in this study. Seven anthropometric and six derived variables were considered. All the statistical analyses were performed by SPSS (v.26).

Results: Significant sexual dimorphism were found in height, weight, sitting height, MUAC, Head Circumference, TSF, SSSF, PBF, FFM and FMI. Higher mean of height, weight, Sitting height, MUAC, head circumference FFM were observed among boys whereas, in case of TSF, SSSF, PBF and FMI higher mean values were found among girls. Age-specific mean differences were found significant for all the anthropometric and body composition parameters. BMI showed a high correlation with all body composition parameters. From Regression analysis, significantassociations of BMI and PBF with the anthropometric and body composition measures were found.

Conclusion:Comparison showed that the percentile values of height and weight of the present population were almost in the line of IAP (2015, 25th percentile) growth reference but below CDC (2000) and NHANES (1999-2002) references that represents poor growth in comparison to the international cut offs. Females had more fat level whereas; males had more lean mass (in total). There is need to develop regional growth standard for better understanding of growth among adolescents of different ethnic groups.