Nutritional Status of Baiga - A Primitive Tribe of Madhya Pradesh

Baiga tribe of Baigachak area is declared as one of the primitive tribe of Madhya Pradesh, based on their pre-agricultural technology, low literacy and stagnant population. The present study was carried out to study the nutritional status of this tribe. A cross sectional study was carried out in the Baigachak area in 2002-2003 to study the nutrition profile of the Baiga Tribe. Eight villages were purposely selected from three blocks of Baigachak area. From eight villages 400 households were randomly selected for the study, and one thousand five hundred forty five individuals from four hundred households were covered for anthropometric measurements, and 80 households were covered for diet survey by 24hr recall method. The extent of malnutrition for preschool children was assessed by SD classification and the nutritional status of adults was assessed by BMI classification. About 61% of the pre-school children were under weight (<Median -2SD) out of them 24.3% children were severely under weight. Stunting and wasting were seen in 44.3% and 37% children respectively. Prevalence of chronic energy deficiency (BMI<18.5) was about 76% among adult population. Consumption of cereals was higher than recommended level (460gm), while the consumption of other foodstuff was lower than the RDA. The intake of all nutrients except calcium was significantly lower than recommended level. The present study revealed that malnutrition is widely prevalent among the Baiga tribe which is mainly due to inadequate dietary intake.