Indian Journal of Health Social Work
(UGC CARE List Journal)
NUTRITIONAL INEQUITIES AND CHALLENGES TO IMPROVE
TRIBAL HEALTH IN INDIA: A REVIEW OF SECONDARY SOURCES
Sudipta Mondal1 & Asok Kumar Sarkar2
1 Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Social Work, Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, West Bengal,
India 2 Professor, Department of Social Work, Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, West Bengal, India
Correspondence: Sudipta Mondal, e-mail: 06686422208@visva-bharati.ac.in
ABSTRACT
Background: There are 705 registered distinct tribal groups, known as indigenous groups or
Schedule Tribes (STs), which comprise 8.6% of India’s total population. Various reports and
documents assert that the overall nutritional status among the tribals in India is unsatisfactory,
and nutritional inequities (negative, unjust, unacceptable inequalities) among them and their
counterparts have remained unchanged or amplified. Method: The present paper, putting a
rigorous effort, aims to examine the existing literature. A collection of available secondary data
on nutrition, nutritional inequities, and challenges to improve tribal health published in reputed
journals and databases during the last 16 years (2008-2023) that could be accessed online was
considered. Result: After an intensive examination and analysis, four major areas of inequities
based on: (A) Socio-economic condition; (B) Connectivity, coverage, & infrastructure; (C) Dietary
pattern and nutritional support; and (D) Marginalization and deprivation have been pointed out.
Similarly, four major areas of challenges to improve health were recognized and affirmed by
many studies and reports. These are: (A) In-tribe differences; (B) Budget allocation; (C)
Traditional belief systems & care-seeking behaviour; and (D) Lack of trained manpower and
discrimination by the healthcare providers. Conclusion: Finally, the paper concludes by suggesting
some measures and policy-level improvisations to enhance the nutritional status leading to better
tribal health in India.
Keywords: Tribal, Indigenous, Nutrition, Inequities, Challenges, India, Review paper.
Submitted: 02.10.2025 Revised: 30.10.2025 Accepted: 18.11.2025 Published: 28.01.2026
How to cite this article: Mondal, S., & Sarkar, A. K. (2025). Nutritional inequities and
challenges to improve tribal health in India: A review of secondary sources. Indian Journal of
Health Social Work, 7(2), 3-14.
INTRODUCTION
Tribes are the indigenous population
historically residing in distinct geographical
locations from ancient times and are referred
to as Scheduled Tribes (STs) or Adivasi in
India. According to Census 2011 (ORGI, 2011),
they comprise 8.6 % of India’s total
population, which was 8.2% in the 2001
Census. There are 705 registered distinct
tribal groups in India that display uniqueness
in socio-cultural and ethnic-lingual arenas, living in different regions in the country (Negi
& Singh, 2018). The Report of the expert
committee on Tribal Health (MoHFW & MoTA,
GOI, 2018) asserts that the overall nutritional
status among the tribals in India is
unsatisfactory. The existing gap between them
and their counterpart has remained
unchanged or amplified. The NFHS-3 found
that 65% of tribal women (15-49 years of age)
and 77% of ST children were anaemic
compared to 64% of all other categories. The
NFHS-4 estimated that 42% of the tribal
children were underweight while two-thirds
of pre-school children consumed 50% below
the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)
(IIPS & ICF, 2021). Though in India,
Government has planned and implemented a
range of developmental programs & welfare
schemes to uplift their condition and bring
them to the mainstream of society; they are
still left behind due to various factors such as
their hard-to-reach locations(Nallala et al.,
2023) and avoidance towards mixing-up with
the non-tribal population. Tribals are still the
most marginalized among all and backward
in terms of education, employment, economic
condition and most importantly regarding
health outcomes (Xaxa, 2014). Major
challenges such as unsatisfactory transport,
socio-economic backwardness, in-tribe
differences, illiteracy, substance abuse,
limited budget allocation, weak healthcare
infrastructure, and lack of trained manpower
are the reasons for the nutritional inequities.
Inequality and Inequity often used
interchangeably, but there is slight difference
among these two terms. In simple words, the
negative, unjust, unacceptable inequalities
can be termed as inequities. Inequities often
found in various socio-cultural aspects among
the developing countries, whereas health
i nequities are structural disparities or
inequalities in health status and/or health
resources in the demography (WHO, 2018).
The present paper through rigorous review,
aims to examine the existing nutritional
inequities among the tribal population and the
challenges found to improve tribal health in
India. It concludes by suggesting some
measures and policy-level improvisations to
enhance nutritional status of tribal population
to have better tribal health in India.
METHODOLOGY
The paper, followed the method of thematic
review of secondary sources. A collection of
existing literature in the domain of nutrition,
and challenges to improve tribal health
published in reputed journals and databases
during last 16 years (2008-2023) and can be
accessed online were considered. These
literatures have been found out using four
scholarly databases (i.e., ResearchGate, Jstor,
PubMed, and ScienceDirect- Elsevier) and
search has been completed in 2023.
To obtain the potential literature (published
in the journals) for inclusion and analysis, a
search strategy was adopted to search the
four mentioned databases. Initially each of the
electronic databases were searched using the
following search strategy:
“Tribal” (OR “Tribe”, “Schedule Tribe”,
“Adivasi”, “Indigenous”, “PVTG”), AND
“Nutrition”
(OR
“Malnutrition”,
“Undernutrition”, “Deficiency”), AND
“Challenges” (OR “Problems”, “Issues”,
“Obstacles”, “Difficulties”), AND “India”.
The searches were limited to the publication
timeline from 2008 to 2023, and all the
searches were completed in the year 2023,
which is further supplemented with four
articles (two published in the year 2006 and
other two in 2024) considering the relevance.
Few articles were also obtained from the
reference section of the previous articles.
All the articles were selected at the first place
following some of the inclusion criteria which
are as follows: Articles should be published
within 2008 to 2023 in English language, full paper accessible from any of the mentioned
electronic databases using the Visva-Bharati
University Library Network, convey the
situation in Indian context, and must include
any three of the key terms (alternatively or
interchangeably).
After screening all the articles, 40 articles
found suitable and finally included in this
paper, then thematic analysis was undertaken.
Screening process included removing the
duplicate items, title and abstract review and
finally full review of the short-listed papers.
Alongside; various reports and policy
documents, such as Census, National Family
Health Survey (NFHS) (IIPS & ICF, 2021),
Report of the expert committee on Tribal Heath
(MoHFW & MoTA, GOI, 2018), Comprehensive
National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) (MoHFW,
GOI, UNICEF & PC, 2019), and National
Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB, NIN,
ICMR, 2009) survey report have been
reviewed and incorporated. Finally, a
collection of forty journal articles, eight
reports, five webpages, two newspaper
articles, one preprint article, one blogpost,
one book chapter, one edited book, three
books, and one policy-brief data factsheet
prepared by WHO are incorporated in this
article.
NUTRITIONAL INEQUITIES AMONG THE
TRIBALS
This is a well-established fact that the
nutritional status is quite unsatisfactory for
the tribal population in India. After 77 years
of independence, about 40% of tribal children
under the age of five are stunted, 16% are
severely stunted, 9% are mild and moderate
stunted according to Comprehensive National
Nutrition Survey (CNNS) of 2016-18.
Malnutrition is high among the STs and chronic
micronutrient deficiency such as iodine and
iron along with anaemia and various Vitamins
can be found (Kerketta et al., 2008). National
Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB), in their
2nd repeat survey (NNMB, NIN, ICMR, 2009)
completed in 2008-09 carried out on the tribal
population, has mentioned that the mean
intake of nutrients through food is below the
Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA)
advised by Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR). This is further affirmed by NFHS-5.
In various studies, it has been found that the
tribal children and women are most vulnerable
to malnutrition (Agrawal, 2013; Dey & Bisai,
2019; Ghosh-Jerath et al., 2013; Jain et al.,
2015; Sethi et al., 2017). The World Health
Organization has called for global action to
reduce the stunted children population by 40%
by 2025 (WHO, 2014). This clearly denotes
the existence of malnutrition among the
children and the urgent need to address the
issue. This situation has been persisting due
to several inequities (unavoidable and unjust
inequalities). Though the government of India
is keen to reach the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG) by 2030 (UN, 2015) and has
developed the conditions of the deprived
population, inequities are a major hindrance
to the pathway. After an intensive review and
analysis of the potential literature and the
databases, four major areas of inequities
based on: (A) Socio-economic condition; (B)
Connectivity and infrastructure: (C) Dietary
pattern and nutritional support; and (D)
Marginalization and deprivation have been
pointed out to discuss further thematically.
After finding the broad areas of inequities
from the articles reviewed, it has been found
that the themes are aligned with the
Sustainable Development Goals (goal number
2, 3, and 10, namely, No Poverty, Good Health
& Well-being, and Reduce Inequalities).
A. Inequities based on socio-economic
condition
Uneven distribution or inaccessibility of
resources ultimately causes poverty, which is
a major drawback in development and they
often don’t seek for treatment due to the lack of financial ability to afford (Gandhi et al.,
2017; Thomas et al., 2021). India’s major ST
population belongs to a low socio-economic
background, comes under the Below Poverty
Line (BPL) category, and is always
marginalized and/or deprived (Chandra et al.,
2021; Narain, 2019; World Bank, 2012).
Approximately 50% (104 million) of the total
ST population live in poverty, which is more
than one-fourth of the poorest population in
India (Kumar et al., 2020; ORGI, 2011; World
Bank, 2012). States, namely Odisha, West
Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, and Jharkhand consist of the
highest percentage of BPL tribal population,
respectively 51.6%, 47.3%, 43.9%, 43.8%,
42.5%, and 40.2%. It can be said that
poverty, unsatisfactory nutrition and
inaccessible healthcare are correlated and
common for the tribals (Debroy et al., 2023).
Among the STs, starvation and malnutrition
are high, and coverage of adequate health
facilities is negligible (Sundararaman et al.,
2010; Xaxa, 2014). NFHS 5 estimates that 71%
of the STs are in the lowest wealth quintiles,
affirming that there is also intense inequity
(IIPS & ICF, 2021). Resource allocation is also
a major concern in this regard, as there is a
static gap in the health and well-being of the
Tribals and their counterpart.
B. Inequities based on connectivity and
infrastructure
Connectivity is a major concern for ensuring
better coverage of facilities provided by the
government and other organizations. Being
distinct groups detached from the mainstream
society, most of the tribal population in India
live in remote rural habitats, predominantly
in hilly regions, forest, and desert areas with
highly difficult terrains and ‘hard to reach’
l ocations (MoHFW & MoTA, GOI, 2018;
Mohindra & Labonté, 2010; Nallala et al.,
2023; Ramirez, 2011; World Bank, 2012). The
long distances, road connectivity, and public
transportation are not satisfactory, and the
coverage of health facilities is also very
negligible (Debroy et al., 2023; Thomas et al.,
2021). As a result, they cannot access health
facilities (De, 2017; Nallala et al., 2023).
Insufficient and irregular supply of medication
and necessary amenities is also a major
problem in tribal areas (Nandi et al., 2018).
C. Inequities based on dietary pattern
and nutritional support
Due to chronic poverty and poor connectivity,
the tribals get fewer livelihood opportunities,
which ultimately affect their food pattern and
calorie intake. Calorie, fat, protein, and other
nutrient intake are below the recommended
average, causing malnutrition among the
tribals (Chandra et al., 2021; De, 2017). The
NFHS-4 estimates that two-thirds of preschool
children in tribal communities consume 50%
below the Recommended Dietary Allowance
(RDA). Depending on the geographical location
and culture, the food pattern also varies
among the tribes. It has been found that in
many parts of the country, specially the
children and women consume based on their
cultural food habits and non-availability and/
or non-consumption of supplementary
nutritional support, they suffer from
micronutrient deficiencies such as Vitamin C,
Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Zinc, Riboflavin, Iron
& Folic Acid, etc. (Arlappa et al., 2011; Ghosh
Jerath et al., 2016; Kodavanti et al., 2010;
Menon et al., 2011). In some areas, the
Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS)
centres and Public Distribution System (PDS)
institutions are merely accessible due to the
distance, irregularity, and other socio-cultural
segregation (Jamwal, 2019; Sethi et al.,
2017). The condition of PDS in tribal areas is
unsatisfactory as well; it is irregular, and low
quality food grain is also a common issue
which further boosts the malnutrition problem
among tribals (Sethi et al., 2017). In some
remote areas, as a survival strategy in the time of shortage of food and ailment the tribal
people have to depend only on the wild as
well (Aberoumand, 2009; Chakrabarty et al.,
2019; Eko et al., 2020; Nimasow et al., 2012).
D. Inequities based on marginalization and
deprivation
Historically, poor people have been
marginalized and deprived by their
counterparts. Tribal people’s marginalization
is implanted deeply in some socio-historical
and cultural elements, such as gender,
isolation, social stratification, racism, and
historical residential segregation and poverty
(Mohindra & Labonté, 2010; Nallala et al.,
2023; Ramirez, 2014). These ultimately
impact their access to better healthcare.
During the pre-independence, the colonial
rulers imposed acts such as The Indian Forest
Act of 1878 and 1927, the Land Acquisition
Act of 1894, etc. which ultimately
marginalized the tribals from their forest and
land rights (Xaxa, 2008). Though these
discriminatory acts have been replaced with
acts such as the Panchayet Extension to
Scheduled Areas Act 1996 (PESA), Scheduled
Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 these
have improved the situation and established
their rights back. The situation has not
changed for the tribals. Especially the
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
are facing the major challenges of losing their
ancestral habitat and living with cultural shock
(Sahani & Nandy, 2013). Apart from these,
various natural calamities, such as cyclones,
floods, and draughts in distinct locations in
India, make the marginalized population
including the schedule tribes into more chronic
deprivation (Datar et al., 2013; Dimitrova &
Muttarak, 2020; Islam et al., 2014). Despite
better national economic growth in India, we
find health and nutrition indicators are still
under the national average for the ST
population (IIPS & ICF, 2021; Sarkar et al.,
2006; Subramanian et al., 2006). The above
cited inequities tend to many challenges.
After going through the literary works, four
major challenges to improve the tribal health
have been discussed broadly. It is obvious that
these challenges are interlinked and consist
of other influential factors as well.
CHALLENGES TO IMPROVE TRIBAL HEALTH
IN INDIA
A. In-tribe differences
In a country like India, where a diverse
culture thrives, it is very challenging to
identify, assess, and address the specific
needs of citizens. In this context, India has
total number of 705 unique tribal groups,
which are registered only according to the
Report of the Expert Committee on Tribal
Heath by Ministry of Tribal Affairs & Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare, GOI, 2018. The
in-tribe differences play a major role in the
persisting gap in terms of development and
well-being between the tribals and the general
population. As the adoption of the intervention
program is not uniform among the tribes due
to their distinctiveness (Islary, 2024; MoTA,
GOI, 2013; Ramirez, 2014; Saha et al., 2016;
Singh, 2010; Singh & Negi, 2019) it leads to
a challenge which has impact on health.
B. Budget allocation
Since independence, the budget has been a
major issue for the government’s
development. Being a developing country,
India faces a scarcity of resources, which
ultimately affects the allocation of the budget
(CAG, India, 2015; Kumar et al., 2020). For
the tribal population, the budget for 2023 is
extended by 0.27 percent of the Union Budget.
Though it has been increased that of the last
budget allocations by the central government,
the situation of the tribals is yet to be improved
(World Bank, 2012). National Health Mission,
a core program for the promotion of nutrition
and health, faced a decline in 2022-23,
limiting it to below 37,000 cores. Though affirming that there is scarcity and need, and
the Government of India in the FY 2023-24
has proposed to increase (approx. 70%) with
a handsome amount (Narain, 2019; PIB, GOI,
2024a; The Economic Times, 2024), along
with various specialized programs (i.e.,
Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission,
Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission
PMJVM, etc.) the results are yet to see in the
future (PIB, GOI, 2024b; World Bank, 2012).
C. Traditional belief system and care
seeking behaviour
Each distinct tribal group has its own culture
and belief system. Though the government has
planned and implemented various
development initiatives in general, not all of
those has been accepted by the tribals, and a
negative trend of health-seeking behaviour
(Nallala et al., 2023; D. Negi & Singh, 2019).
The major reason is that the traditional belief
system prevents them from assimilating or
accommodating the central ideas of these
programs (Gandhi et al., 2017; Islary, 2014).
It is also true that the tribal perspective of
concepts, such as health or development, also
differs from the Western view of development
(Nandi et al., 2018). Traditional healing
systems and various taboos are also very
predominant among the tribes. So, lack of
awareness about the various nutrition and
health components is also very common
(World Bank, 2012). Education is a basic
service and right for every citizen of India and
to generate a more aware population, it is a
prerequisite for better health and nutrition
outcomes (Deka, 2011). Hence, there is a
persisting literacy gap between the tribal and
their counterpart (Faridi, 2023). These
ultimately affect their health-seeking
behaviour and utilization of the government
healthcare facilities (Gandhi et al., 2017).
D. Lack of trained manpower and
discrimination by the healthcare
providers
In every sector of a country, there is a need
for trained and skilled manpower.
Nevertheless, in terms of tribal nutritional and
health service delivery systems, the situation
is very ironical. Most of the frontline service
providers are from the non-tribal populations
and are not culturally oriented; as a result,
the desired outcomes are not fulfilled (Nallala
et al., 2023). Rude behaviour, negligence, and
even denials of health services by the health
facilities and the frontline healthcare providers
create a major problem in the development
of the tribals (Nandi et al., 2018; Thomas et
al., 2021). Most of the time, the healthcare
providers are absent in the health facilities
which limits the tribal people seek care from
there (Gandhi et al., 2017). The emergence
of more culturally oriented, trained manpower
and pluralistic healthcare can overcome the
situation, not merely increasing the health
centres (Debroy et al., 2023; Kumar et al.,
2020; World Bank, 2012).
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION:
It has been affirmed from the above cited
studies that the tribal population in India is
marginalized and lag behind the nutrition and
health indicators in contrast to its non-tribal
counterparts. Poverty, marginalization,
illiteracy, unemployment, and food insecurity
are very common among them, which cause
an alarming nutritional deficiency among the
tribal population and persisting the gap with
the non-tribal counterpart (Kumar et al., 2020;
Mohindra & Labonté, 2010; World Bank, 2012;
Xaxa, 2014). The children and women were
found to be more vulnerable in terms of
nutrition, though the situation for the adults
of the both gender, is unsatisfactory
(Ravindran et al., 2022). There are no
significant changes in the prevalence of
malnutrition, stunting, wasting, etc. as argued
in various studies, which are not sufficient to meet the global action against undernutrition
proposed by WHO (Mukherjee et al., 2022;
Swaminathan et al., 2019).
After the analysis of the selected existing
literature, four major grounds for nutritional
inequities have been identified. They are
based on: (A) Socio-economic conditions, (B)
Connectivity, coverage, and infrastructure, (C)
Dietary patterns and nutritional support, and
(D) Marginalization, and deprivation. However,
it is also true that there are some other
existing casual factors, such as gender,
education, migration, etc., which may have
impact on the nutritional status of the tribals
as indicated by several authors. The major
contemporary challenges to improve tribal
health based on these inequities are also
multidimensional, but in this paper four
themes were recognized and affirmed by
many studies and reports. These challenges
are: (A) In-tribe differences, (B) Budget
allocation, (C) Traditional belief systems &
care-seeking behaviour, and (D) Lack of
trained manpower, and discrimination by the
healthcare providers (Islary, 2024; Thomas
et al., 2021). However, there is a definite need
and scope for more in-depth exploration to
uncover the pathways of nutritional inequities.
Many authors came up with
recommendations, such as revising the
existing policies, developing the infrastructure
and coverage (reaching the unreached),
implementing culturally oriented tribal-centric
development programs, monitoring and
regular supervision of the frontline healthcare
providers and up-skilling the healthcare
providers to develop the situation (Barua &
Baruah, 2014; Mohindra & Labonté, 2010;
Mukherjee et al., 2022; Nallala et al., 2023;
WHO, 2018; World Bank, 2012). These
recommendations are proposed with enough
facts and logics by the concern authors.
Tribal centric healthcare is a real concern in
India as well as in the World. Treating all the
indigenous or tribal groups as a single group
namely ‘Schedule Tribes’ (STs) in India, is not
wise while preparing any policy for their
development considering the diversities
among them. The connectivity is obviously a
major factor while accessing any facilities. In
healthcare, especially during the
emergencies, transport become the key
factor. In reality, it is found that at the
grassroot level the policies are not
implemented as expected or the services are
not been provided to the beneficiaries
effectively. This issue can be managed
through rigorous monitoring and evaluation.
Another major concern is that, the frontline
health providers often belong to the non-tribal
counterpart, and as a matter of fact, they are
also not trained with tribal cultural orientation.
This makes the frontline workers less
productive and, in many cases, either the
tribals do not seek healthcare from them, or
in other case the workers see the tribals with
derogatory vision and do not provide the
services with dignity, care and effectiveness.
To reduce these inequities among the tribals
in India, all the mentioned issues need to be
considered minutely, and in doing so,
intensive research in this domain is expected.
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Conflict of interest: None
Role of funding source: None
ISSN: 2582-1393 (Online)