Abstract

Background: There are 573 scheduled tribes living in India and 15% of Gujarat’s population is tribal. They are particularly vulnerable to undernutrition because of their geographical isolation, socioeconomic disadvantage and inadequate health facilities
Objective: To assess the nutritional status of the Rathwa tribal adolescents registered under the government-run schools of the newly formed district of Chhota Udaipur, Gujarat, western India.
Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study where five tribal schools were selected purposively in Chhota Udaipur. All the students attending 6th and 7th standards (n = 280) were enrolled for nutritional status assessment; however, due to lack of attendance, final data were presented for 150 subjects. Background information, dietary profile, anthropometric indices, and biochemical estimations on a subsample for hemoglobin, complete blood count and red cell morphology (n = 60) were included for nutritional status assessment.
Results: Boys (44.9%) and girls (44.4%) were found to be equally suffering from severe thinness (44.7%). Overall prev- alence of night blindness (26.7%), conjunctival xerosis (1.3%), Bitot’s spot (21.3%), corneal xerosis (0.7%), and corneal scar (2.7%) highlights that Vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem in this area. Besides low hemoglobin, over 90% subjects had a diminutive MCH and MCV levels indicative of anemia other than iron deficiency such as microcytic anemia. Conclusion: Considering the alarming public health prevalence of micronutrient malnutrition among the tribal adoles- cents, urgent measures to improve their living and dietary conditions are needed. Improving the quality of free meals along with nutrition education is immediately recommended.