Exploring Diet Diversity in the Context of Tribal Women : A Case of Adilabad and Komaram-Bheem in Telangana

Abstract

According to Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2019, India is facing micronutrient deficiency and recent edition of National Family Health Survey-5 has indicated towards rising malnutrition. Similar is the case of Telangana with vulnerable tribal population. It is imperative to discuss means of addressing malnutrition and for this diet diversity is one of the approaches. This dissertation intends to examine the concept of diet diversity in tribal context and as a tool for proxy of nutrient adequacy. In addition to this, it will contribute to the scant research and literature done in India, especially for the tribal communities. To understand diet diversity in the context of tribal women and communities, the study has analysed the data collected as part of the Nutri-Food Basket initiative of Telangana state government. The study focussed on adolescent females and adult females. FAO classification of food groups has been adopted for classification and counting food groups for the scores. In addition to this, survey has been conducted of forty respondents to understand the relationship between food security and diet diversity. The findings have been triangulated with recent surveys and studies. Also, focussed group discussion gave insights into the concept for tribal women. Findings suggests that the majority of the respondents consume medium diet diversity with diet diversity score of four, followed by low diet diversity with diet diversity score of three. Also, majority of them consume food groups like ‘starchy staples’ in the form of rice and ‘nuts and legumes’ in the form of pulses and ‘other vegetables and fruits’ in the form of onions. Traditionally, they consumed millets and wild fruits/vegetables which has reduced drastically given the policy landscape. Ordered logit model helped us in identifying the causal factors to the diet diversity scores. Policies have played a major role in changing the dietary patterns of tribal communities which has resulted in malnourishment and reduced consumption of traditional diverse food items. Just like nutrition, diet diversity is a multidimensional concept which needs broader understanding. But, it holds the potential to address the issue of malnutrition. The suggested A4U framework could help us design policies with tailored approach.