Nutritional Profile and Socio-Economic Status of Saharia, a Primitive Tribe of India

Abstract

A study was conducted among Saharia, a primitive tribe of central India, with an objective to assess the nutritional profile and associated socio-economic factors. A cross sectional sample of 364 adult males and females aged 18-60 years was studied. Stature, body weight, skinfold thickness, circumferences, fat percent, grip strength and blood pressure were measured on each subject. Body mass index, Trunk extremity ratio and Grand mean thickness were computed statistically. A higher percentage of chronic energy deficient (CED) males and female subjects indicated a poor nutritional status of Saharias. A few overweight males were also found. More females were found to be undernourished than males as per the cut off values of MUAC. All the subjects were found to have normal blood pressure with the exception of a few hypertensive cases among males in overweight category. An influence of changing life style among Saharia males was more noticeable.

Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Prevalence of Under Nutrition Among Adult Sabars of Bankura District, West Bengal, India

“…A higher prevalence of CED as well as overweight among males in comparison to females reflects the higher sensitivity in terms of BMI to their environment. It was also observed that the level of undernutrition on the basis of MUAC was higher among Saharia females (Kapoor et al 2009). In the present study, we also found a relationship between socio-economic status and nutritional status.…”

Effectiveness of Various Anthropometric Indices in Prediction of Cardiovascular Risk Among Adult Jains

“…BMI is most commonly used measure of overweight, obesity as well as of CED (chronic energy deficiency) [32,33] and has been found to be important risk factor for CVD [34]. In the present study also BMI was found to be a greater risk factor for cardiovascular health among Jain females supported by strong correlation of BMI with blood pressure, high ' ' value and high odds ratio for hypertension in obese females.…”

Skinfolds as prognosticators of nutritional status among adult undernourished males of India

“…BMI and MUAC have been used as forecasters of subnutrition, intensively in numerous studies (Kapoor et al, 2009;. But arm circumference, a sensitive measure of the loss of muscle mass in the elderly is related to greater degrees of malnutrition than BMI and is validated as nutritional screening tool for malnutrition in the elderly (Chumlea et al, 1998).…”

“…Body mass index (BMI) is one of the most established anthropometric indicators used not only for assessment of adult nutritional status but also for the socio-economic condition of a population, especially in developing countries. Mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) is another anthropometric measure, is particularly effective in the determination of malnutrition among adults in developing countries (Shetty et al, 1994;James et al, 1994 ;Khongsdier, 2002;Kapoor et al, 2009). There has been much interest in the literature on the use of skinfolds and derivatives of these for nutritional assessment of muscle and fat body reserves along with its association to chronic (Shetty et al, 1994; Hence, the objective of our research is to understand the role of skinfold thicknesses (taken at various sites over the body) as indicators, to infer the nutritional status of undernourished tribal males of India and to find the best prognosticator skinfold for assessing undernutrition.…”