Assessment of nutritional status through body mass index among adult males of 7 tribal populations of Maharashtra, India

This paper deals with the assessment of nutritional status through body mass index (BMI) in adult males of 7 tribal populations of the Maharashtra state of India. Anthropometric data collected by the Anthropological Survey of India on 600 adult males aged 18-60 years were used in this analysis. Majority of them were thin and lean with medium to short stature. The mean BMI was found to be highest among the Gond (18.33 kg/m2) followed by Korku (18.30 kg/m2) and Mahadeokoli (18.17 kg/m2). There were significant variations in the mean BMI among the tribal populations, ranging between 16.82 kg/m2 and 18.33 kg/m2. The prevalence of Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) was highest among the Warli, among whom 30.0% were found to be suffering from severe CED, 32.0% moderate CED and 26.0% mild CED. A greater prevalence (36.0%) of normal status of nutrition was found among the Korku. The linear regression coefficient (b f standard error) of BMI on Cormic Index or CI (SH/H) for these tribal groups was 13.68 f 3.3 (t=4.14, p < 0.000), and the correlation coefficient (r f standard error) was 0.16 f 0.02. The differences in BMI across the tribes were significant even after allowing for the Cormic Index. It can be said that the majority of the tribal populations of Maharashtra were lean. The high proportion of individuals with CED corroborates their low social and economic status