Nutritional Status and Morbidity Pattern of Muslim Married Women:A Study of Cachar District in Assam, India

Diet and nutrition are important factors for maintenance of good health throughout the life cycle. There are many factors viz; income, prices, individual preferences and beliefs, cultural traditions, as well as geographical, environmental, social and economic factors all interact in a complex manner to shape dietary consumption patterns and that affect the morbidity and clinical status of women. The study assesses the nutritional status and morbidity patterns among 214 non-pregnant non-lactating rural Muslim married women of different age group in Cachar district. Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to classify nutritional status of women. The study reveals that most of the women from the reproductive group suffer from acute mal-nutrition problem while women belonging to pre-menopause and menopause group face the problem of overweight and obesity mostly. The study also reveals that women under old age bracket are suffering from more diseases than the other groups of women. Due to the biological changes in their different phases of life, the morbidity rate of the women is different for different phases. The morbidity rate increases according to their increase in age.