An exploratory study of diet and nutritional status of shariya tribe lactating women in baran district of rajasthan

The Saharia is reported to be one of the most backward tribes of Rajasthan. Recently media reported incidents of starvation deaths among Saharia tribal community in Kishanganj block of Baran district. Therefore, a rapid survey was carried out to assess the diet and nutritional status of Saharia tribal population. Total 120 samples were selected from Kishanganj and Shahbad panchayat samilti (60 from each block) in consultation with the district officials. The study revealed that a majority of the households surveyed were nuclear families. About 79.16% of the lactating women head of the households and 67.50% of their women counterparts were working. The major occupation of the head of the household was either agricultural labour or other labour (86.66%). In general at household level, the consumption of all the foods except cereals and millets were below the suggested levels. The intake of protein, calcium, iron, thiamin and niacin were comparable to the recommended allowances, while the intake of other nutrients such as total fat, energy, vitamin A, riboflavin, vitamin C and free folic acid were below the recommended levels. On clinical examination, the prevalence of Bitot spots among lactating women was found to be higher (06.66%) indicating that vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem in the tribal population. The results revealed that mean height, weight and BMI of the subjects was lactating women (0-6 months) 154.03 cm, (6-12 months) 155.18 cm, and (0-6 months) 49.36 kg, (6-12 months) 52.08 kg lactating women and (0-6 months) 20.77 kg/m 2 , (6-12 months) 21.63kg/m 2 , respectively than that reported for the State of Rajasthan (48%) (DWCD, 1998). Breastfeeding practices revealed that majority of the mothers initiated breast-feeding on the third day of the delivery. The observations highlight the need for strengthening health and nutrition programmes in this area.