Assessment of Food and Nutritional Security of the Rural Women in Telangana State

Agricultural interventions are often intended to promote economic empowerment of women and are planned exclusively for income-generating opportunities, which increased work burden on women unintentionally. In other terms,affects their health and nutritional status. Frequently multiple linkages of nutrition are forgotten while planning of policies. Thepresent study evaluates the food consumption and nutrient intake of the rural women. Hundred women were selected from Sriramnagar village from Ranga Reddy District of Telangana. Data on socio-economic profile, dietary diversity and 24 hour recall was collected by using the developed questionnaire. It is evident that majority of the respondents were middle aged (between 35-55 years), agricultural labors, Data on dietary diversity indicates that majority (85% and 82%) of the respondents fell under poor category of food consumption scores, in both daily and occasional or festival intake. Except for the carbohydrate, other nutrients such as protein, calcium and iron was noticed to be very less as compared with the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA). The results suggest that the food security policies in India should be planned in a way that not only empower women's capacities through income but also imparts nutrition education to produce better outcomes.