Nutritional Status and Birth Outcome of Mudukas Tribal Pregnant Women in Attapady Block, Kerela

The health and nutritional problem groups of the vast tribal population of India are as varied as the tribal groups. Attappady is a tribal development block located on the eastern sloping plateau in the Western Ghats, in Mannarkad taluk of Palakkad district of Kerala. It is a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which covers parts of the three states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The population of Attappady consists of tribes and non-tribes, the three tribes communities Kurumbas, Mudugas and Irulas. There are 192 hamlets known as oorus in Attappady. Mudugas form the second largest tribal community in Attappady. There are 27 Muduga hamlets in Attappady. The women in the Attapadi are suffering from chronic malnutrition. They do not increase the dietary intake during gestation which have strong impact on birth outcome. The study was conducted among 50 mudukas tribal pregnant women during the study period of june 2017 to November 2017. The socioeconomic, dietary pattern, maternal nutritional status and neonatal details. By the results of survey showed that about 68 percent of women had miscarriage in their previous pregnancy and nearly half of them had low birth weight babies. About 40 percent had edema in their lower limbs, 14 percent experienced heartburn, four percent with preclamsia and 18 percent suffering with constipation, and 48 percent had dental caries. The dietary pattern showed that 48 percent of the selected women consume fruits daily, only 68 percent of tribal pregnant women drink milk daily. About 58 percent of the selected women had the habit of consuming betel leaves. About 34 percent were underweight during the early days of pregnancy About 34 percent of women suffered from moderate anemia.