Abstract
Currently, malnutrition and undernutrition are comprehensible health issues for adults in India. This condition also affects children. The prevalence of such situations developed in India is primarily due to socio-economic variation, especially in the case of socio-economically disadvantaged communities like Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) over others. For the last two to three decades, there has been no inspiring progress regarding the nutritional status of such a population. Studies on the assessment of nutritional status among both male and female Santals are almost lacking, hence the importance of conducting such a study. The present study tries to determine nutritional status prevalence among Santal adults in East Singhbhum District, Jharkhand, India. It was a community-based cross-sectional study carried out in tribal areas of East Singhbhum District, Jharkhand, India. A total of 211 adult (male = 101 and female = 110) schedule tribes (Santals) aged over 20 years in those village areas (Bela, Malua, Dighi Mura, Majhipara, Teghori and Raj bandh) were included in this study. Body Mass Index (BMI) and Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) were the major indicators used here to assess the studied participants' nutritional status. It was observed that most young adults, age group 20-40 years, are mainly affected. Further study revealed that 5.9 % of males, 8.1 % of females, and 7.1% of the total population were suffering from Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED), and 52.5 % of males, 58.1 % of females and 55.5 % of the total population became overweight. The overall sex-combined prevalence of undernutrition was 7.1%. The prevalence of undernutrition was significantly (p < 0.05) higher (8.1%) in females compared to males (5.9%). Nutritional status assessment through MUAC also revealed more or less similar results. It may be suggested that nearly three fourth of the population (69.67 %) was nutritionally normal, whereas the rest (30.33 %) was found to be underweight and malnourished. So, from this study, it may be concluded that females were in the more concerning situation for undernutrition according to MUAC and overweight according to BMI.
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