Recent Papers

Tribal women in Andhra Pradesh often receive inadequate maternal health care. They are generally vulnerable to the same diseases as men, yet they also have special health needs: tribal women are more likely to carry a heavier workload than their men and to carry children and breastfeed for many years. Despite these difficulties, the position of women in tribal societies often puts more strain on their health and less access to maternal health care, resulting in inadequate food intake. This has created new awareness of the problems, but the impacts in the lives of many women are yet to be felt. This paper uses the example of Indian tribal women to highlight some of the health and nutrition problems addressed in 2005-2024 and to chart some recent developments. Particularly the tribal women have poor maternal health and nutritional status and have many pregnancies, often very close together. They are also at higher risk of malnutrition, anaemia and reproductive tract infections, but they also make poor use of health services, even when they are available. This is not because women are in less need, but because they do not recognize their need or is unable to overcome social and cultural barriers. The paper draws on experience gained in a program to expand and develop health care delivery in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to suggest policies that require special attention if the health and nutrition of tribal women are to improve.Keywords: Maternal Health, Nutrition, Tribal Women, Andhra Pradesh, Body Mass Index.

Copyright © 2024 Appala Naidu Pappala. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.