Dietary status of Mahishyas in Chakpota: inter- and intra-economic group variations

Abstract

The Human Adaptability Programme was initiated in the Indian Statistical Institute in 1976. The present study on dietary consumption of the three Economic Groups of the Mahishya caste population of Chakpota village, Amta area, Howrah district, West Bengal, India, was undertaken to examine whether there were any differences in the amounts of nutrients consumed by households in the same and different Economic Groups. We also studied day-to-day variations in nutrients consumption within a household, as well as the ability to predict to which Economic Group a household belonged from nutrients consumption. The results showed that consumptions of all variables except that of Vitamin C increased significantly from Economic Group 1 to Economic Group 3. There was also considerable variation among households within each Economic Group, but no appreciable day-to-day variations in consumptions of different items within a household were found. It is possible to predict (with about 70% accuracy) to which Economic Group a household belonged from its amounts of consumption, and with improvements in economic status, the diet of the Mahishyas became less dominated by cereals and more rich in fat without any increase in total protein content.