In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage, against each, five words are suggested. One of the five words fits in the given blank perfectly. Mark the most appropriate word.
Adolescence is a transitional phase between childhood and adulthood characterized by marked acceleration in growth. It is a second chance for growth or _______ (1) growth for those children who have experienced nutritional ______ (2) in early childhood. A large number of adolescents from South and South-east Asian countries suffer from chronic malnutrition and anaemia which ______ (3) their development. The high rate of malnutrition in girls contributes to the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition, and in most developing countries nutrition initiatives have ______ (4) on children and women, essentially neglecting adolescents, especially boys.
India has a large population of adolescents and also of slum dwellers in urban areas. Although a number of studies from India have been published on adolescents’ anthropometry among school children from urban and rural areas _______ (5) prevalence of undernutrition ranging from 17% to 65%, there are only a few studies conducted on the growth of adolescents from urban slums covering adolescents not ___________ (6) school. ___________ (7) the growth issues of this underprivileged group could be an important step towards breaking the ________ (8) cycle of intergenerational malnutrition, chronic diseases, and poverty. Such assessments need special consideration since they _______ (9) a large proportion of the urban population and suffer from adverse living conditions such as unsafe water, poor housing, overcrowding, and limited health facilities, especially when _________ (10) to school-going urban adolescents not living in slums.
Source: Sushama A. Khopkar, Suvi M. Virtanen, and Sangita Kulathinal, “Anthropometric Characteristics of Underprivileged Adolescents: A Study from Urban Slums of India,” Journal of Anthropology, vol. 2014, Article ID 197048, 9 pages, 2014. doi:10.1155/2014/197048
