ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal - 462038 Madhya Pradesh, India.
ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal - 462038 Madhya Pradesh, India.
Nutrition. 2024 Feb;118:112262. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2023.112262. Epub 2023 Oct 14.
Nutritional security for women working in agriculture is one of the most serious and persisting concerns in developing countries like India. The present study surveyed the dynamics of nutritional status based on dietary intake, namely calorie, carbohydrate, protein, fat, calcium, folic acid, iron, vitamin, carotene, etc., in the farm women in the central India state of Madhya Pradesh.
A total of 225 farm women (ages 18 to 60 y) who were engaged in agricultural activities were selected for this study. The nutritional survey was done by personal interview on food intake with a pretested interview schedule and daily dietary intake. The survey questionnaire includes information on family, socioeconomic status, income, education, occupation, and food habits of the farm women. As "daily dietary intake", respondents were asked to list all foods and beverages consumed for a whole day.
The mean age, height, weight, and body mass index of the respondents were 34.93 y, 1519 mm, 49.47 kg, and 21.5 kg/m, respectively. Based on different grades of nutrition, body mass index results indicated that 28% were underweight, 52.4% were normal, 17.8% were overweight, and 1.8% were obese. Inequality (estimated by Gini coefficient) analysis found that there is not much variation in the nutrient intake levels across the physical status of the respondents, with the exception of carotene and vitamin C. The classification and regression tree analysis indicated that with the exception of fat, the rest of the nutrients were not significant in determining the farm women's physical status in terms of weight. In the analysis of the waist-to-hip ratio, the risk of metabolic diseases (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc.) was higher in the 31- to 40-y age group.
Overall food frequency indicated that poor intake of micronutrients in their diet according to their work activity results in poor health status. The study affirmed that the actual intake of nutrients varied significantly across the physical status of the farm women, their physical activities carried out, and their monthly income level. The study also suggests various policy options to overcome the nutritional gap in farm women.
妇女在农业劳动中的营养保障是印度等发展中国家面临的最严重和最持久的问题之一。本研究调查了印度中央邦农业妇女的营养状况，包括膳食摄入的动态，即卡路里、碳水化合物、蛋白质、脂肪、钙、叶酸、铁、维生素、胡萝卜素等。
本研究共选取了 225 名从事农业活动的农妇（年龄 18-60 岁）。通过预测试访谈和日常饮食摄入，采用个人访谈的方式进行营养调查。调查问卷包括家庭、社会经济地位、收入、教育、职业和农妇饮食习惯等信息。作为“日常饮食摄入”，要求受访者列出全天食用的所有食物和饮料。
受访者的平均年龄、身高、体重和体重指数分别为 34.93 岁、1519 毫米、49.47 千克和 21.5 千克/米。根据不同营养等级，体重指数结果表明，28%的人体重不足，52.4%的人正常，17.8%的人超重，1.8%的人肥胖。不平等（用基尼系数估计）分析发现，除了胡萝卜素和维生素 C 外，受访者的身体状况对营养素摄入水平的变化没有太大影响。分类回归树分析表明，除了脂肪外，其余营养素对确定农妇的体重身体状况没有显著影响。在分析腰臀比时，31-40 岁年龄组患代谢性疾病（心血管疾病、糖尿病等）的风险较高。
总体食物频率表明，根据工作活动，她们的饮食中微量营养素摄入不足，导致健康状况不佳。该研究证实，农妇的实际营养摄入量因身体状况、所从事的体力活动以及月收入水平而有很大差异。该研究还提出了各种政策选择，以克服农妇的营养差距。
