Multidemensional Ecology Index a Tool to Assess Ecological Factors Influencing Nutritional Status

To study the influence of ecological variables on nutritional status a multi-dimensionalecology index (MEI) was developed after doing a pilot study in the area. MEI has 4 sub-indices- economic, housing, sanitation and food choice and nine other ecological variables namely income, land holdings, livestock, food diversity, family type, family size, protein, calorie and iron intakes constituting 14 variables. Diet survey by weighment was conducted to assess the nutrient intake. Weight of children below 12 years was taken.100 Scheduled caste rural families of Telangana (50Mala and 50 Madigas - the two major scheduled castes) were randomly selected. Multiple regression analysis was carried out to find the relationship of all the 13 independent variables with the dependent variable, Weight. The total contribution of the 13 ecological variables and MEI to the weight status among Mala children is 34.37 percent; the total contribution of all variables in Madiga children accounted to 27.15 percent. MEI has indicated a positive and significant relation to weight of SC children. The findings suggest that improvement of theecological setting of SC families can have a positive impact on their nutritional status