Gradual change in the traditional food culture is leading to nutritional deficiency and resultant health complications in tribespeople who have already been rendered vulnerable by joblessness and lack of ownership of land, say health activists.
Over a period of time, there has been a drastic change in the staple diet of tribespeople, and they no longer take millets, root vegetables and tubers like earlier, according to Prabhudas, nodal officer of the Health Department at Attappady. They are not comfortable with modern food practices. As a result, the tribepeople often do not get the nutrition they are supposed to get from food.
“Normally, tribespeople have high immunity levels. Though the prevalence of coliform bacteria in the water sources in tribal hamlets is very high, you don’t find widespread incidence of cholera there. The most common problem among them, anaemia, is owing to their poor food habits and lack of nutrition in their diet,” Dr. Prabhudas says.
Pregnant mothers either do not get nutritional food or refuse to take them, leading to the birth of malnourished children and infant deaths. A junior health inspector working in Palakkad district, who has worked in the tribal colonies as part of government projects, said the nutrition supplements being supplied by health activists in tribal colonies were often found unused. As a result, children are born with congenital problems. Dr. Prabhudas said of the 14 children who died in Palakkad due to malnutrition last year, seven had incurable congenital ailments.
Binsu Vijayan, assistant professor, Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, who has extensively worked among the tribal population at Edamalakkudy in Idukki district, said some men among them were found to be using tobacco products and alcohol as a replacement for normal food. Lack of hygiene and sanitation-related issues were also major causes of concern. “Open defecation is still a common practice. Though they have a designated place for the purpose, the water sources in the area get polluted during the monsoon season, leading to health problems,” he said.
Holistic policy
Dr. Vijayan said the health care issues of tribespeople call for a more holistic policy in tune with their requirements and cultural practices. “What we now have is a one-size-fits-all approach without properly studying the culture, history and health parameters of the tribal population,” he said. The funds being allocated by the local bodies and the government for their health care are not reaching them mainly owing to this lackadaisical approach, he added.
“The basic problem is lack of financial security, which leads to lack of food security. . Even a medical graduate is unable to get employment,” Dr. Prabhudas said. Also, if the tribespeople want to cultivate anything, they do not have electricity and water for the purpose, for which legal documents are needed to prove their ownership of the land.
