Physical health status of Kinnauri women tribe of Himachal Pradesh

Pages: 348-354
Raj Pathania and Madhur Katoch (Department of Human Development, College of Home Science, CSKHPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh)

The objectives of the present study were to assess the reproductive health status along with the antenatal care, personal hygiene and general awareness and current use of family planning methods among tribal women of Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. The study was conducted in two blocks, viz., Kalpa and Nichar of district Kinnaur of H.P. From both block 20 villages were selected randomly and from these villages 250 women in the age group of 15-45 years were selected. A self-structured interview schedule was administered that included the background information and items on physical health status of tribal women. Karl Pearson correlation matrix was applied to find out the relationship between socio-personal characteristics with various factors. The results revealed that the women were married off before the legal age of 18 years and the average age of having first child was found to be 19.1 years. Antenatal care of these tribal women was also found to be poor, as majority still had children delivered at home. It was found that lack of proper antenatal care leads to abortions/miscarriages, still births or complications during deliveries. These women were not aware about HIV/AIDS and STDs. They lacked in personal hygiene awareness as well, which can be correlated with half of these respondents suffering from Urinary Tract infections or vaginal discharge as a major problem. Therefore, there is a need to create awareness among these women about various health issues.