Abstract

NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND DIETARY PRACTICES OF KALPVAASIES AT KUMBH MELA, ALLAHABAD

Anisha Verma*, Neerubala, Sarita Sheikh and Zaki, M. Shamim

ABSTRACT

A study was conducted during the Kumbh Mela- 2012 organized at Triveni Sangam , Allahabad, with following objectives- to find out the dietary pattern and nutrient intake of the selected kalpvaasies, to determine the anthropometric measurement and to impart nutrition education through the developed nutrition education material. 200 respondents ( Kalpvaasies) were purposively selected from different sectors of Kumbh Mela, Allahabad. Survey method was adopted in order to collect the data from the selected respondents with the help of the developed questionnaire. The anthropometric measurements of the respondents i.e. height in cm and weight in kg were taken. Dietary intake was determined by 24 hours dietary recall method and the average nutrient intake was calculated and compared with RDA (ICMR,2004). It is concluded from the results that the majority of kalpvaasies(79.5 percent) followed type-b(Morning Tea+ Lunch+ Bedtime) dietary pattern. The mean average daily intake of the nutrients in both male and female respondents was lesser than the ICMR, RDA. The BMI of 66.67 percent of respondents were normal at the first week of kalpvaas but 52.5 percent of kalpvaasies got reduced their BMI at last week of kalpvaas.

Keywords: Kumbh Mela, Nutrient intake, Anthropometric measurement, Kalpvaas, BMI.