Assessment of Middle Childhood Nutritional St...

Assessment of Middle Childhood Nutritional Status of Tribal and Non-tribal School Children of South Tripura, India

Author Name : Prasanta Deb

ABSTRACT

Objective The study aimed at the dietary patterns and nutritional health of the Tripuri and Reang tribal children as well as the Bengali children.

Methods Information regarding dietary intake and nutrition type was collected using 24 hrs recall method. The nutritional status of both Tribal and non-tribal children were compared with the RDA.

Results The mean daily intake of cereals in boys and girls were lower than RDA in all communities. The mean intake of energy, protein, fats and carbohydrates of Tripuri, Reang and Bengali children of all age groups were lower than RDA. On comparing the results of the present study with tribal children of other states, it has been found that the tribes of Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal are consuming higher protein and calorie compared to Tripuri, Reang and Bengali communities, whereas the tribal populations of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa showed lower consumption of protein and calorie with respect to the children of the present study.

Conclusion From the study it was concluded that the both tribal and non-tribal population were suffering from under nutrition, which might be due to inadequate diet consumption, poor socioeconomic status and lack of nutrition education. Thus, implementation of intervention program is necessary for improving the nutritional status of both tribal and non-tribal school children of South Tripura.

Keywords: Nutritional status, macronutrients, tribes, non-tribes, South Tripura, India