Nutritional Assessment of Rural and Tribal Women in Rainfed Regions of Andhra Pradesh

Anthropometric data and dietary food intake of rural and tribal women was collected in Rangareddy, Medak, Nalgonda and Mahaboobnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh. A baseline survey was conducted through a structured pretested questionnaire to assess nutritional status of women in all the four districts. About 60% of women were found to be in normal nutritional status in non-millet consuming households and 90% of women were found to be in normal nutritional status without any symptoms of malnutrition in millet consuming households of Rangareddy district. The extent of deficit in mean intake of different food groups was found to be higher (77–83%) for milk and milk products, for green leafy vegetables it was 25–67% and the intake of other vegetables was about 33–41%. In Nalgonda district, the comparison of mean weights of tribal girls of millet consuming households in the age group of 7–9 and 10–12 yrs showed better body weights compared to girls of non-millet consuming households in the same age group. Medak district data showed that 60% of rural women population was found to be in normal nutritional status who consumed millets in their daily diets. Women suffering from grade III malnutrition were found to be 14% in this district. The nutritional status of rural women of Farooqnagar mandal, Mahaboobngar district showed that 87% of rural women population was found to be in normal nutritional status, and only 9 and 4% of women were found to be in grade I and grade III of malnutrition who consumed millets in their daily diets. In conclusion, the nutritional status of rural and tribal women and children in rainfed districts was found to be better with consumption of millet foods (sorghum).