~ 171 ~ International Journal of Home Science 2016; 2(2): 171-176 ISSN: 2395-7476 IJHS 2016; 2(2): 171-176 © 2016 IJHS www.homesciencejournal.com Received: 27-03-2016 Accepted: 28-04-2016 Dr. Purba Chattopadhyay Assistant Professor, Department of Home Science, Calcutta University, Viharilal Campus, 20B, Judges Court Road, Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Correspondence Dr. Purba Chattopadhyay Assistant Professor, Department of Home Science, Calcutta University, Viharilal Campus, 20B, Judges Court Road, Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Impact of Mothers self-esteem and attitude towards gender on the nutritional and health entitlements of primary school going children – A study in West Bengal Dr. Purba Chattopadhyay Abstract In Indian context, mothers have the central role in household as regards to the basic nourishment and care of the child. In this regard mother’s self-esteem and gender attitudes play a crucial role in governing the type of intra-house-hold allocation of basic resources. In this perspective the present paper looks into the gender attitudes and self-esteem of 300 rural mothers from three districts of West Bengal. And draw a comparison of the same between the tribal (santhal) and non-tribal population. Secondly, the paper looks into the impact of the above on the nutrition and health security of 465 school going children at primary level, in the age group of 5 to 12 years, under the ICDS midday meal scheme, by applying Clinical Nutrition Survey Chart; 24-hr recall method and Food Frequency Questionnaire, health and immunization records and expenditure on education. Nutrient intake and consumption frequency of all the 6 food groups, like Meats & Protein, Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, Dairy, Fats & Oils, were collected for the afore-mentioned sample. In the above context the paper focused on the comparative study of food and nutrition security along with access to basic health and education facilities of the santhal and non- santhal population. In this SPSS-17 was used for the descriptive statistics, t-test, χ2 for association and odd ratio calculation. It was seen that santhal mothers had better gender attitudes and self-esteem at 0.05% level of significance. Further, it was seen that the intra-household resource allocation was more egalitarian in case of santhal population with respect to the general population at 0.05% level of significance. Keywords: Gender, Nutrition, Diet, Food Consumption, Health 1. Introduction Food security is a complex sustainable development issue, linked directly to health through malnutrition and has far reaching consequences on the sustainable economic development especially for a developing country like India. Thus in its basic form food security is unswervingly linked to nutritional security which implies physical, economic and social access to balanced diet, clean drinking water, safe environment, and health care (preventive and curative) for every individual. Education and awareness are needed to utilise these services. Even after over 69 years of independence, India is still a country in developmental transition and continues to battle with infectious diseases and conditions related to under-nutrition [22] . Over 50% of preschool children and 30% adults are undernourished as judged by anthropometric indices and over 70% of women and children suffer from anaemia [9] . Added to this the Census of India 2011 [14] , reveals that the child sex ratio (number of girls per 1,000 boys among children in the age group 0-6 years old) is at its lowest since when India gained her independence. One of the most alarming trends in India is that son preference or conversely daughter neglect, which can be a normal attribute for household which manifests as neglect through lack of medical care, improper nutrition and even death through infanticide and sex selective abortions. This is occurring even among the educated, affluent groups in India. Sen (1992, 2003) [13, 21] first recognized that millions of women in India and China are missing because of widespread neglect in nutrition, health care, and prenatal care. India and China are the only countries in the world in which female infant mortality rates are higher than that of males (United Nations, 2011) [11] . A number of studies show intra household resource allocation focus on differences in entitlements of either women or children. Awasti (1999, 2003) [1, 2] have shown the poor status of children as regards to nutrition. It also reveals the gender aspect where girls fare worse than