PhD Oral Defense: Effect of Double Fortified Salt Intervention on the Dietary Intakes of Women Tea Plantation Workers in India
PhD Oral Defense of Sudha Venkatramanan, School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition
The prevalence of micronutrient deficiency and underweight are high among rural and tribal Indian women. Iron deficiency affects dietary intakes, productivity, cognitive outcomes, and has implications on the overall health status of adult women in the reproductive age. Predominantly cereal-based diets with low intake of bioavailable iron and lack of dietary diversity, dispose women to iron deficiency. The main objectives of the thesis were (1) to identify the socioeconomic determinants of poor nutritional status in female tea plantation workers, (2) to determine the effect of salt dually fortified with iron and iodine on the appetite and dietary intakes of female tea plantation workers, and (3) to measure the degree of treatment contamination from the common practice of food sharing among the tea plantation workers.