A comparative study on health status of Oraon and Munda rural areas Tribal women

Abstract

Women outnumber men in the area of malnutrition, illiteracy and wage inequality mostly due to an all round discriminations which a women has to face right from her birth not only in india but also in all patriarchal countries of the world and consequently suffer from a large number of health problems, both physical and psychological a women's destiny is guided by 3 Ds. viz., discriminination, disease and deaths; throughout her life, nay, even before birth. The research reported in this paper aims to study the comparative study on the health status of Oraon and Munda women in rural areas of Gumla Block. The main objectives of the study is to access the magnitude and Characteristics of dietary pattern and nutritional deficiencies of oraon and Munda women in rural areas of Gumla Block which is influenced by a wide range of factors like agro climatic differences foods grown and availability. Beliefs, Customs and traditions influence the general Pattern of living in any community. Beliefs, in inherent and integral as they are in the cultural matrix acts as in visible force in translating Present ideas in to overt acts and customs. Objectives: 1. To find out the anthropometric measurement consisting of weight, height and BMI. 2. To determine and compare the nutrient intake with the Recommended dietary allowances. 3. To examine the clinical Signs and symptoms of nutritional deficiencies. Study design: Longitudinal descriptive study. Setting: study was Performed on rural areas of Gumla Block in Jharkhand. Particparts: 200 adult, women (between 20 to 45 years of age) was randomly Selected for the Study. The food consumption of the subjects was recorded by 24 hour recall method for 3 consecutive days. From the actual consumption of foods daily by the respondents the energy, fat, protein, iron Calcium, B carotene and Ascorbic acid content was Calculated using food composition tables given by NIN (National Institute of Nutrition) ICMR Hyderabad, 2007. Study variables: Body mass Index (BMI), height, weight, dietary Pattern and nutritional deficiencies Statistical analysis: - Percentage, mean and standard deviation. Results: A comparative study was done to know the health status of oraon and Munda tribal women in Gumla block adult tribal women of all income group of rural Areas of Gumla District Jharkhand. Family monthly income, education, size, meal pattern, custom and traditions showed positive influence on nutritional status of people of all age groups in both tribal population. The subjects from Oraon tribal group showed lower intake of protein, and calorie as compared to Munda tribal group but both the groups showed lower intake of protein, fat, carbohydrate and calorie when compared with ICMR Recommended allowance. The prevalence of nutritional deficiency diseases found among these people indicated that the food consumed by them have poor quality or inadequate to meet their growing needs. The study revealed that there is a direct correlation exists between the adequacy of diet and socio-economic status. The over all result of this study is that the health status of the oraon and munda womens of Gumla block area is not so good. It is moderate and some nutritional correction is required. Even having good income, tribal people used to practice their old eating habits and old cooking methods. Thus they must be provided with proper nutrition education programme and educate them about proper health, hygiene and improved cooking practices so that they can develop themselves and maintain their health in good condition.