Impact of Nutrition Intervention Among Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) Women Beneficiaries in Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The study was undertaken to understand the impact of MGNREGS on the livelihood and nutritional status of women in Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India. The primary aim was to assess the socio-demographic, anthropometric, biochemical, clinical and dietary aspects. After non-formal nutrition education all parameters were re-assessed for impact analysis. The cross-sectional research design was utilized to estimate the prevalence of the outcome of interest for a given population. Among 1000 selected MGNREGS women beneficiaries, 500 were taken as samples by random sampling technique in 20 rural development blocks aged 20 to >60 years. A structured questionnaire was used to collect all the information. The data were analyzed for mean, standard deviation and two-tailed test with statistical significance level of (p<0.05) by SPSS 14.0 software. After intervention, improvement in waist-hip ratio was proven to be statistically significant (p=0.044); Comparing the percentage of each physical sites assessed clinically before and after nutrition intervention, Z-test was taken to ensure where the improvement was statistically significant (p<0.05). Nutritional intervention was carried out in their workplace, it is a cost-effective, feasible method and good option to create a higher level of awareness and standard of living among MGNREGS women beneficiaries.