FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF TRIBAL STUDENTS IN TAMIL NADU: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LAST DECADE

Abstract: The dietary and nutritional conditions of tribal students in Tamil Nadu are the determining factors of their overall health, educational performance and well-being. This systematic review has the overarching goal of consolidating available literature to evaluate the nutritional status of school student in Tamil Nadu, prevalence, micronutrient deficiencies and related Ecological and cultural determinants influencing tribal school children in the last decades. A comprehensive search of peer-reviewed journals, government publications and grey literature was showed using databases such as PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar. The review emphasizes the widespread problems of malnutrition such as malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and over nutrition caused by dietary patterns. Furthermore, it discusses the effects of government nutrition programs and interventions to enhance the nutritional status of tribal students. A total 30 studies met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. These studies highlight the nutritional challenges tackled by the tribal children in Tamil Nadu. This systematic review meta-analysis, poor food intake habits, lack of macro and micronutrients, inadequate dietary diversity, unhygienic environments, poverty, low literacy level and limited awareness of government policies increases the risk of under nutrition among tribal children. The findings of this analysis will help in preparing policy suggestions and focused nutrition interventions to enhance educational performance and health status of Tamil Nadu tribal students.

Keywords: dietary diversity, food consumption, health interventions, malnutrition, micronutrient deficiency, nutritional status, tribal children.