Bio-Social correlates of nutritional status among the Bengali Muslim and the Meitei Women of Cachar district of Assam, India

Abstract

Nutritional status based on BMI is not only influenced by biological factors but also affected by demographic, economic, socio-cultural and environmental conditions of a population. The present paper intends to study the nutritional status with reference to age and family income among the Bengali Muslim and Meitei Women of Cachar District, Assam. The data have been collected by household census method and nutritional anthropometry among 172 Bengali Muslim and 181 Meitei women of 20 to 64 years age. The study reveals that 40.1% of Bengali Muslim and 30.4% of Meitei women are suffering from CED malnutrition while very few women are found to be overweight or obese in both the communities. Chi-square test doesn’t show any significant (p-0.195) difference in nutritional status between the two communities. More than 50% of Bengali Muslim women who belong to higher age group (50+) are found to be suffering from CED malnutrition while frequency of CED malnutrition is high among the middle aged Meitei women. CED malnutrition is found to be more among the Bengali Muslim women of lowest family income category but it is high among the Meitei women who belong to middle income group. Although slight negative correlation exists between BMI and age of the Bengali Muslim women but opposite picture is observed among the Meitei women. BMI of both Bengali Muslim (r=0.209, p<0.01) and Meitei women (r=0.165, p<0.05) demonstrate significant positive correlation with annual family income. The study indicates the affect of family income in nutritional status. However, further studies are required considering other correlated bio-social factors to get deep insight knowledge on it.