Nutritional status of tribal and non-tribal adults in rural Bangladesh: A comparative study

BACKGROUND: Nutritional status is an important indicator of health status among adults. However, to date, there exists scanty information on the nutritional status of tribal populations of Bangladesh. The aim of the study was to investigate the nutritional status of tribal (T) and non-tribal (NT) adult people living in the rural area of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. METHODS: A total of 420 (72 T and 348 NT) households were studied. The samples were selected using multistage stratified sampling with proportional allocation. The nutritional status of adults was measured using body mass index (BMI). Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and Z-proportional test were utilized for data analysis. RESULTS: The study revealed that 8.3% and 9.2% of T and NT men were suffering from under nutrition respectively, while the corresponding figures in women were 12.5% and 10.1% respectively. Overall, 11.1% and 27.0% men, and 13.9% and 29.3% women T and NT were over-nourished respectively. The rate of over nutrition among T was significantly (p<0.05) higher than NT for both sexes. The mean weight and BMI of the NT men were significantly (p<0.01) higher than T men. The mean weight, height and BMI of NT women were higher (p<0.05) than T women. ANOVA demonstrated that the variation in BMI among education levels of NT men and the variation among occupation for both ethnicities were significant (p<0.01). The variation in BMI among education levels and occupation of T and NT women were significant (p<0.05), moreover ordinal logistic regression model demonstrated that hygienic toilet facilities and father’s occupation were predictors of nutritional status. The interaction effects of education and occupation, and education and household monthly income on BMI were significant (p<0.01) for T men and both T and NT women (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of over-nutrition among NT is higher than T for both sexes. Some socio-economic and demographic factors were found as predictors of malnutrition. At least 12 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain indicators that are highly related to nutrition, our findings can help Bangladesh Government for achieving SDGs by 2030. Appropriate nutritional intervention and awareness programmes can be initiated by the Government to ameliorate the burden of malnutrition among adults in the country.