Nutritional and Health Status Evaluation of Tribes of Uttar Pradesh: An Anthropological Dimension

Abstract

Man needs a wide range of nutrients to lead a healthy and active life and these are derived through the diet they consume daily. Good nutrition is a basic component of health. Health and nutritional status of an individual depends on the food he eats. This paper deals with the utility of various anthropometric cut-off points in the evaluation of nutritional & Health status. The Kharwar is one of the Adavasi groups of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They are contemporary of Mundari speaking Indian tribes. Racially they belong to Proto-Australoids and linguistically to Dravidian group. The traditional economic activities of the Kharwar have been agriculture and other wage earning labour. The present study is to investigate the nutritional status of adult tribals of Kharwar group. This cross-sectional study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of undernutrition using body mass index (BMI) among 18 years and above Kharwar adults of Uttar Pradesh, India. A total of 151 (75 males and 76 females) adult from different villages of Varanasi District were measured. Result revealed that prevalence of undernutrition (age and sex combined) among Kharwar was 26.5 %. The sex specific rates were 33.3 % and 19.4 % among females and males, respectively. There was a highly significant sex difference in CED prevalence based on BMI. Kharwar adults were experiencing high (serious) situation for all age groups and the women and oldest among them were experiencing the most serious situation with respect to their health and nutritional status.