Resumo de Nutritional Status And Mother's Health

Nutritional statu and mother's health The health

and nutrition problems of the vast tribal population of India were as
varied as the tribal groups themselves who presented a bewildering diversity
and variety in their socio-economic, socio-cultural and ecological settings.
The nutritional problems of different tribal communities located at various
stages of development were full of obscurities and very little scientific
information on dietary habits and nutrition status was available due to lack of
systematic and comprehensive research investigations. Malnutrition was common
and greatly affected the ability to resist infection, led to chronic illness
and in the post weaning period led to permanent brain impairment. Good
. nutrition was a requirement throughout life and was vital to women in terms of
their health and work. Nutritional anemia was a major problem for women in India and more
so in the rural and tribal belt. In developing countries, it was estimated that
at least half of the non-pregnant and two thirds of the pregnant women were anemic
((U.N., 1984). The situation was particularly
serious in view of the fact that both rural and tribal women had a heavy work
load and anemia had a profound effect on their psychological and physical
health. Anemia lowered resistance to fatigue, affected working capacity under
conditions of stress and increased susceptibility to other diseases. Maternal
malnutrition which was quite common among the tribal women was also a serious
health problem, especially for those having many pregnancies too closely
spaces, and reflected the complex socio-economic factors that affected their
overall situation. The nutritional status of pregnant women directly influenced
their reproductive performance and the birth is crucial to an infant's chances
of survival and to its subsequent growth and development. Nutrition also
affected location and breast feeding which were key elements in the health of
infants and young children and a contributory factor in birth spacing. Scanning
through available data, it was observed that among most of the tribal groups
the staple diet was rice or minor millets except the Mompas of Assam who
consumed wheat also (Basu et al. 1985). Birds, fish and other meat products
were also consumed by the tribals occasionally. Diet of not a single tribal in
the different Status of India
can be said to be sully satisfactory. Tribal diets were generally grossly
deficient in Calcium, Vit.A, Vit.C, riboflavin and animal protein. Diets of
South Indian tribes in general, and of Kerala in particular, were grossly deficient
even in respect of calories and total protein. Studies carried out at the
National Institute of Nutrition (1971) and Planning Commission of India (Sixth Five Year Plan, Government of India) reported
a high protein calorie malnutrition along the rice-eating belts. Studies
available on the dietary status and health of the Bihar and Maharashtra
found deficiency calorie as well as protein and essential amino acids in their
diets though major signs of nutritional deficiencies were not observed (Chitre, 1976). Surveys on the nutritional
deficiencies (Gopalan, 1971) among the tribals reported a high incidence of
goitre, angular stomatitis among the Mompas of Assam and Vit. A deficiency among
the Onges. A high incidence of malnutrition was observed (Ali 1980, Basu et al., 1990, Mahapatra and Das, 1990) in some primitive
tribal groups in Phulbani, Koraput and Sundergarh districts of Orissa and also
among Bhils and Garasia of Rajasthan, Padars, Rabris and Charans of Gujarat and
Bondas of Orissa (Haque, 1990). Studies of tribal communities
in Orissa conducted by Ali (1992) found that an ecological imbalance caused by
rapid deforestation had resulted not only in depleting food resources, but in
prolonged droughts, adding to hunger and starvation.

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