Knowledge and Attitude of Tribal Women towards Child Nutrition in Nashera Village, Palghar District, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

A survey based study was conducted to evaluate the baseline nutritional status of thirty nine women in the Nashera village of Maharashtra and to understand their knowledge and attitude towards nutrition. The underlying factors for lack of knowledge about nutrition or lack of education (49 %) among the demographic under study. In-depth interviews and qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data reveal that income source (56 % were below national poverty line), and illiteracy (49 %) are the contributing factors for the reluctant attitudes of women towards nutrition. The majority of these women lack the information about malnutrition and its impact on child brain and physical development. Besides, many women in this community lack the perseverance and long-term commitment to address the problem related to child development. Apart from these challenges, the main limitation is the lack of access to food and connectivity of Nashera. Another part of the survey dealt with assessing the nutritional status of children between the ages 7-14 years. The data so obtained was used to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI), which was further applied to calculate per cent healthy, thin and severely thin kids from the village. Almost 65% (39% boys) of the children were considered malnourished. This study in totality represents the attitude of women towards malnutrition and their direct effect on child health and thereby suggests the need of nutritional intervention with respect to women's education, employment development, physical and physiological health of women and children.