Selected Socio-demographic Correlates of Nutritional Status among Bhaina Tribal Female Children and Women of Pendra Block , Chhattisgarh

In India, generally, tribal children and women are more deprived of their basic health and nutritional requirements. The present study attempted to deal with the sociodemographic profile and body mass index (BMI) based nutritional status of the 161 females (children and women) from Bhaina community (A Particularly Vulnerable Tribe or PVT) of Sadhwani village, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Results showed that mean values of height, weight and BMI of the participants increased with age (up to 59 years) and then decreased (≥ 60 years). Significant differences in height, weight and BMI (p=0.001) between age-groups are observed. Significant difference (χ= 16.22, df = 08; p = 0.04) in the prevalence of BMI-based nutritional status by age-groups is also noted. Thus, the results show that nutritional stress is highest among the youngest and the oldest individuals. Anthropometric characteristics are related to the socio-demographic parameters like education and occupation of the participants. Similar data from varied ethnic groups from the Indian State(s) should be collected and analyzed to better understand and develop strategies to reduce the prevalence of undernutrition in children and women in the country. †Assistant Professor ‡ Research Scholar †† Research Associate *Professor, Corresponding author INTRODUCTION Children and women constitute the most nutritionally vulnerable sections in India and their nutritional status is considered to be a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition. Infant mortality rate is often used as an indicator of the quality of life and health of people in a country. Maternal malnutrition is one of the significant and interconnected aspects of intrauterine growth retardation (Barker,’95; Black et al., 2008), child malnutrition and chronic diseases (Osmani and Sen, 20 Subal Das, Manisha Ghritlahre, Huidrom Suraj Singh, Sudip Datta Banik & Kaushik Bose 2003; Victora et al. 2008). India’s demographic and illness profile and developmental indicators demonstrate the inequality between genders, signifying the subsistence of gender bias (WHO,’98). Gender investigation in health care discovered that males and females had differential health risk, access to the benefits of resources including education, employment etc (WHO,’98). Poor nutrition severely hinders personal, social and national development (Shafique et al., 2007). It has been clear that India has the largest tribal population in the world that consti-tutes 8.6 per cent of the total population of the country. There are 705 Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 75 (approximately) Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in India (Census of India, 2011). Majority of tribal communities in India live in the scattered and small habitats located in remote areas, near forests and hillocks that are dis-tant from the general population. The tribes in India are con-sidered to be the weakest part of the society in view of their socio-eco-nomic conditions (Basu,’94; Thakur et al.,’91). Despite surplus food grains, a majority of the tribal community people in India suffers from undernutrition since tribal communities are iso-lated from general population and are so-cially and economically vulnerable (Laxmaiah et al., 2007). With this background, the present study was undertaken to investigate sociodemographic profile and nutritional status of children and women of Bhaina tribal community in the Sadhwani village from Bilaspur district in Chhattisgarh. MATERIALS AND METHODS The research design was cross-sectional. The study was conducted in the year 2013 on a sample size of 161 females aged 2-75 years in Sadhwani village of Pendra block in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh. The particular village is located around 220 kilometers from Raipur, the state capital of Chhattisgarh. Age of the children was documented from the official records including birth certificates of children available from the nearest Primary Health Center (PHC) or Polio vaccination card provided by the teachers of Anganwadi (Integrated Child Development Services program providing basic health care in the rural areas). Age of the participants for the sample was considered to the nearest whole number. Height and weight were recorded from each participant from the village by the co-authors (MG and HSS) following standard techniques (Lohman et al.,’88). Techni-cal errors of measurement were found to be within reference values (Ulijaszek and Kerr,’99) and thus was not incorporated in statistical analyses. Participants were informed prior to the recording of data from them and were also explained about the objectives. Visits have been made mostly in the day time when most of the respondents (females) were expected to be at home. Ethical approval was obtained from competent authority before commencement of the study. The BMI was computed using the following standard equation: BMI = Weight (kg) / height (m) (WHO,’95). Nutritional status was evaluated using internationally accepted BMI guidelines (WHO,’95). The standard cut-off points of BMI for adult females (WHO,’95) and children (< 18.0 years) (Cole et al., 2000, 2007) were used. The appropriate cut-off values (to the nearest whole age) were utilized. We followed the World Health Organization’s classification (’95) of the public health problem of low BMI, based on adult populations worldwide: low (5-9%): warning sign, monitoring required; medium (10-19%): poor situation; high (20-39%): serious situation; very high (≥ 40%): critical situation. Socio-demographic criteria in the present study included education, occupation, health services and marital status in women. The participants were either literates or illiterates. Occupation in women was categorized into: housewife, cultivation, wage laborers and others (including small business, service etc.). Health services attended by the individuals included: from the quacks or persons without formal medical education treating people especially in rural areas, the ojhas or traditional healers, and the Government public health department (PHC or Primary Health Centre). Marital status included two sections: married and unmarried. The ANOVA (F-test) was performed to test the age-group differences in the variables. Chi-square (χ) test was performed to understand the significant differences in the prevalence of nutritional status between groups. All statistical Socio-demographic Correlates of Nutritional Status among Bhaina Tribal Females 21 analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 11). Statistical significance was set to a value of p < 0.05. Microsoft office excel was used for the graphical presentations.