Women and Child Nutritional Status among the Irular Tribe in Villupuram District of Tamil Nadu

Malnutrition among children and women has serious long-term consequences in our India especially thedeprived section of the people. In this case, tribal are the most vulnerable section of people comparedwith other population. According to NFHS IV report (2015-16), the percentage of under the weight ofSTs is 42 Percent The prevalence of underweight is almost one and half times higher in tribal childrenthan other population tribal children continue to be the most malnourished. Stunting among children andlow BMI among adults in tribal people is more than among the non-tribal population. Due to this concernresearcher made to study the women and child nutritional status among the Irular tribe of Villupuram Districtof Tamil Nadu. A community-based cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the nutritional status ofchildren below 5 years and their mother of Irular Tribe by using inexpensive anthropometry method. Suchas Weight for age, height for age and weight for height, BMI & Waist hip ratio for an adult was calculatedby using WHO growth standards. The prevalence of underweight (weight for age), stunting (Height for Age)and wasting (Weight for Height) in the study population is 58.43 Percent 64.04 Percent and 51.69 Percentrespectively. The proportion of moderate and severely underweight, stunting and wasting were highest inthe age group of 36-59 months. Malnutrition is a major public health problem among children and womenespecially in the most vulnerable segment of people