The present cross-sectional study assesses the prevalence of undernutrition among school-going girls of central Indian town-Sagar of Madhya Pradesh. A total of 312 girls of age cohort of 5–18 years were included. Height-for-age, weight-for-age and body mass index for age were used to evaluate their nutritional status and these were compared with the NCHS (2005) reference data. There were wide variations in stunting, underweight and undernourished among the girls. In the present investigation z- score and composite index of anthropometric failure were also computed. The study reveals that highest mean BMI was found 19.2 Kgm-2 for girls of 17 year of age; whereas lowest mean BMI was 13.7 K gm-2 for girls of 5 year of age. Present studied girls have low mean body weight, short stature and low mean BMI than the reference population (NCHS). It was found that 5.4% girls were stunted, 5.7% girls were underweight and 4.1% girls were undernourished. As per composite index of anthropometric failure a total of 10.6% girls were undernourished. In the present investigation, it was found that with improved  standard of living, the prevalence of stunted girls had decreased; whereas highest proportion of undernourished and underweight girls fall under medium level of living standard.  Education level of mother and father had positive impact on the nutritional status of the girls. Dietary habit also found to have impact on the nutritional status of the respondents. But, the impact of standard of living, parents education and dietary habits on the nutrition of the girls were found statistically insignificant (p>0.90).