Micronutrient Status of the Selected Transgenders

Abstract

According to Hindu mythology the supreme beings of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi join and emerge as the almighty Ammaiyappan, these divine beings combine to take the form "half male and half female”-Arthanaareeshwara. The present study flashes light upon the micronutrient status of the transgender individuals. The study was conducted in Coimbatore and Tiruppur picking up a sample size of 147 and was selected by convenience and purposive sampling method. Written questionnaire was the tool used to gather data from the participants. The participants were assessed for their micronutrient status, nutritional status and dietary habits, physical and mental health. The dietary habits found out on enquiry include their general eating habits, food allergies, likes and dislikes on food. It was discovered that they consumed non vegetarian food (100%), road side food (100%), junk food (75%) and an average of 2 meals, 2 snack and 1 beverage a day. The micronutrient status was found to be low (0-40) for nearly all participants as assessed with vitastiq. The deficiency symptoms noticed on clinical examination are sparse / thin hair (27.3%), inattentiveness (22.1%) and mild anaemia (12.9%). The BMI of the participants indicated that 42.2% were obese, 26.5% were overweight, 8.2% were under weight and 23.1% were normal. On a general note, participants had very poor physical health due to their sedentary life style neglecting exercise and yogic practices in their day to day life. They did not show mental fitness due to equal per cent of sexual and verbal harassment. Even on consumption on balanced meal they show low nutritional status which may be attributed to stress, poor hygiene and sanitation, lack of medical facilities and nutritional intervention programs. Hence the nutritional status of the transgender needs to be improved.