International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI) ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 7714 www.ijhssi.org ||Volume 8 Issue 09 Ser. II || September 2019 || PP 27-30 www.ijhssi.org 27 | Page Nutritional Status of Tribal Pregnant Women Riya Mandal * Dr. Neeru Bala** Dr. Dipak Kumar Bose*** *Research Scholar, Department of Food, Nutrition and Public Health (Corresponding Author), ** Associate Professor, Department of Food, Nutrition and Public Health, ECHS, *** Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Prayagraj, UP, India. Corresponding Author’s E-mail: riyafan14@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Diet and nutrition are important factors in the promotion and maintenance of good health throughout the life cycle. The health and nutrition problems of the vast tribal population of India were as varied as the tribal groups themselves who presented a bewildering diversity and variety in their socio-economic, socio-cultural and ecological settings. A cross-sectional descriptive and community based research was done in Alipurduar district of West Bengal and Dhanbad district of Jharkhand to assess and compare the nutritional status of tribal pregnant women. A total of 340 respondents, 170 respondents from Alipurduar district and 170 respondents from Dhanbad district were selected randomly. The data were collected by the researcher herself with the help of pre structure interview schedule. The collected data were arranged, analyzed and interpreted to draw the conclusion. The study inferred that majority of the respondents (76.47% in Alipurduar and 83.53% in Dhanbad) were under age group 21-30 year, they belong to Hindu religion. More than one-third (33.53%) of the respondents in Alipurduar and half (50%) of the respondents in Dhanbad are lying below optimum level of BMI. Energy, protein, calcium and iron were deficient than RDA in respondent’s diet in both the study area. Improving the infrastructures, improve the health care facilities and in-flow of technical man power will help to solve the health problem of the tribal community. Keywords Diet and Nutrition, Tribal pregnant women, RDA and BMI --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 02-09-2019 Date of acceptance: 13-09-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. INTRODUCTION The nutritional status of pregnant women directly influenced their reproductive performance and the birth which is crucial to an infant’s chances of survival and to its subsequent growth and development. Income, prices, individual preferences and beliefs, cultural traditions, as well as geo-environmental, social and economic factors all interact in a complex manner to shape dietary consumption patterns and affect the morbidity and clinical status of tribal men in general and tribal women in particular. The situation was particularly serious in view of the fact that both rural and tribal women had a heavy work load and anaemia had a profound effect on their psychological and physical health. Maternal malnutrition which was quite common among the tribal women was also a serious health problem, especially for those having many pregnancies too closely spaced, and reflected the complex socio-economic factors. II. METHODOLOGY Community-based, cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in Alipurduar district of West Bengal state and Dhanbad district of Jharkhand state which was selected purposively to assess the nutritional status of tribal pregnant women. A total of 340 respondents, (170 respondents from Alipurduar district and 170 respondents from Dhanbad district) were selected randomly. The data were collected by the researcher herself with the help of pre structure interview schedule. The collected data were arranged, analyzed and interpreted to draw the conclusion.