Archives

SL No	Food items	D	2/w	3/w	I/w	Fort nightly	M	occasionally	Never
I	Cereals
II	Pulses
III	Vegetables
IV	Meat
V	Fish
VI	Egg
VII	Fruits
VIII	Milk & Milk products
IX	Coffee & Tea
X	Homemade snacks
XI	Condiments and spices

n   = maximum scale rating.

Scoring procedure was followed to quantify the frequency of use of food items. The daily used food items were given a score 30, those food items used four times in a week were given a score of 16, thrice a week were given a score 12, twice a week as 8, once a week as 4, monthly twice as 2, monthly once as 1 and those that were used occasionally/never were given zero score. Mean scores were calculated for each food group. The mean percent score was calculated by dividing the mean score on the maximum score of 30 and multiplied by 100. The foods that scored above 90 per cent were grouped as daily used foods while those foods that scored below 15 per cent were classified as least frequently used foods. Frequently used foods were those items which scored between 75- 89 per cent and the less frequently used foods were those which got scores ranging between 15 -74 per cent.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

From the table 2 it is seen that there, among the major food groups only cereals and pulses came to daily consuming food groups and vegetable recorded as frequently used food group. where as fish, meat, egg where least frequently used and milk, coffee/tea, home made snacks and condiments and spices belonged to less frequently used food groups.

Table 2: Comparison of dietary pattern of Attappady tribes in terms of food aid through community kitchen (n=60)

Table 3: Statistical comparison of dietary pattern of Attappady tribes in terms of food aid through community kitchen (n=60)

 

It could be observed from the table results that there existed significant improvement in the nutrient intake of individuals due to the presence of Community Kitchen. The higher nutrient availability recorded in areas where Community Kitchen was present clearly substantiated its importance in these tribal hamlets (ooru).However, the results were also indicative that the present level of dietary inputs distributed through Community Kitchens could not fully meet the recommended nutrient requirements and need to be revised accordingly. From the table 3 we could see that there exists a significant difference between the dietary pattern followed by the tribes the who belonged to ooru with and without Community Kitchen. Especially in the case of vegetables, fish, egg and meat. The Community Kitchen program was started in the backdrop of the high rate of infant mortality and malnutrition deaths in 2013-2014 among tribal communities of Kerala by the Social Justice Department. However, later it was handed over to Kudumbashree Mission and is presently run by them. Though Community Kitchen was initiated as the nutritional programme to address malnourishment among children, at present it primarily catered to pregnant women, lactating mothers, adolescent girls, senior citizens and other impoverished members. Menu served included white boiled rice, ragi powder, variety of pulses like green gram (Vigna radiata), horse gram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) and chick pea (Cicer arietinum). This was well accepted because it represented the revival of traditional Ooraduppu (Hamlet Hearth) which involved the practice of sharing food and having meals together. Enhanced solidarity and unity in the hamlet were assured by the introduction of Community Kitchen.
Presently it is self-managed by the tribal women’s neighborhood groups (NHG) where the NHGs purchase the provisions from the Maveli store on a monthly basis, firewood would be either bought or collected by the NHG depending on the local requirements. Maintenance of hygiene in the kitchen is also the responsibility of the NHG for which a hygiene protocol developed for the purpose is in place. Vessels and utensils have been provided for cooking and storing water. The stock registers are maintained by the secretary of the NHG with the support of the animator. Earlier one meal a day was served during the evenings for the community. However, of late the food is being provided in the morning, afternoon and evening mostly to pregnant and lactating mothers. The community kitchen has also started using the vegetables grown by the community and has been extended to provide food to school going children in the mornings and evenings. Avil (rice flakes), broken wheat uppuma, rice gruel, green gram and idli were served as morning breakfast. The Oorusamithi executive committee, the animator and the project management unit of Kudumbashree Mission are responsible for monitoring the management of the project.
Moreover, the Community Kitchen has helped directly in the reduction of anemic problem, increase in the weight of infants and children and enhanced the health status of pregnant women. Indirect influence included improvement in women empowerment, traditional agricultural activities and overall self-confidence and social commitment among the tribes.

CONCLUSION

Community grounded programs endure to play a crucial role until health services, education, income, and communications have improved to the point that maternal and child mortality has fallen substantially and malnutrition is much reduced; at this intermediate development level, the needs are less felt, and health services again take on a more prominent role. The efforts to eliminate or even reduce health inequalities are likely to be failed if they flop to intervene upon their fundamental causes, it is imperative that public health researchers examine these policies and identify the structural interventions that hold the greatest (and the least) promise for reducing health inequalities. There need not be implemented the entirely new projects or programs as we already have been tried with success in vast sections of non-tribal areas, the administrative skills and organizational capabilities need to be tuned up according to the tribal needs. Politically-sustained and administrative commitment is what we currently need to have a long-term and comprehensive impact on the health status of tribal populations.

REFERENCES

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Reaburn, J. A., Krondl, M., & Lau, D. (1979). Social determinants in food selection. J. Am. Dietet Assoc. 74, 637-641.
UNICEF [United Nations Children's Fund]. (2015). UNICEF Annual Report 2015. UNICEF Division of Communication, New York, USA. 56p.

WHO [World Health Organization]. (1996). Preparation and Use of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines. WHO Technical Report, Series 880. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Consultation. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. 108p.