The prevalence of under-nutrition among the tribal children in India: a systematic review

Abstract

Tribal population of India constitutes 8.6% of the total population. They are more susceptible to undernutrition which is recognized as a prevalent health problem mainly because of their uncertainty of food supply, which has serious long term consequences for the child and adversely influences the development of the nation. The assessment of nutritional status is paramount importance because it impels to identify malnutrition which is an aggravation of morbidity and mortality. This review was aimed to find out the overall nutritional status of tribal preschool children. It also seek the major socio-cultural causes which influence the nutritional status from bio-cultural perspectives among the tribal children in India in order to make foundation of new research. In the present review, 41 papers on nutritional status of tribal preschool children published from January 1st 2000 till date, have been identified and included for analysis. To analyze the data, meta-analysis was done using MedCalc software.

Keywords

• preschool children
• tribal
• nutritional status
• meta-analysis
• underweight