Socioeconomic determinants of nutritional status among ‘Baiga’ tribal children in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh: A qualitative study

Abstract

The Baigas due to their primitive agricultural techniques, poor education status and poor population growth have been conferred the status of ‘Scheduled Tribe’ by the Government of India. The community bears the brunt of inequities, reflected in their poor nutritional and socioeconomic status. We have employed qualitative design for the study, as we wanted to understand the contextual factors for Baiga tribal children’s inferior nutrition status. Twenty in-depth interviews with the mothers of the children suffering from moderate to severe malnutrition and several other interviews were conducted with the key stakeholders like anganwadi workers, Integrated Child Development Scheme supervisors, Accredited Social Health Activists, public distribution system shopkeeper and registered medical practitioners. Interviews with the key informants were conducted in the Balagahat district of Madhya Pradesh. Key factors responsible for perpetuating malnutrition were then identified through thematic analysis. It was found that dissatisfaction with public services and indifferent attitude of public servants resulting in poor uptake of public services further accentuated the problem. A qualitative enquiry into the issue of high and persistent levels of malnourishment among these tribal children revealed several aspects which quantitative method may not have captured. This implies that while framing a policy for improvement in the nutrition status in such population, a holistic approach is required instead of focussing on one aspect such as supplementation of nutrition alone.