Existing Nutritional Practices of Rural Women in Assam, India

Abstract

Health and nutritional status of Indian women are worsening due to the prevailing culture and traditional practices in India. Indian women are generally vulnerable to poor nutrition, especially during pregnancy and lactation. It has been pointed out that the impact of nutritional status of the mother is more pervasive than the impact of other factors on birth weight. The study was carried out in the state of Assam (India) with 270 randomly selected rural women of 3 districts, viz., Tinsukia, Nagaon and Barpeta districts to find the existing practice of respondents on nutrition. Majority of the respondents (67.41%) belonged to ‘moderate’ category of practices regarding nutrition followed by 21.85 percent of respondents belonged to ‘poor category’ of practices in Assam. Majority of the respondents belonged to ‘moderate category’ of practice on nutrition, namely Barpeta (61.11%), Nagaon (63.33%) and Tinsukia (62.22%). It may be concluded that healthy lifestyle and high intake of nutritious food can provide good health throughout life to the humans. The poor nutrition and unawareness of health facilities during the childhood and reproductive age are the major factors responsible for the poor health status.