Assessment of Nutritional Status, Dietary Intake, and Impact of a Targeted Nutrition Intervention Among Tribal Adolescent Girls in Yavatmal District

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Adolescence is a pivotal developmental phase marked by rapid physical growth and increased physiological demands, making nutritional adequacy critical for adolescent girls. In socioeconomically disadvantaged tribal regions, undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies remain widespread. To evaluate the baseline anthropometric status, dietary nutrient intake, and baseline nutrition knowledge of tribal adolescent girls, and to determine the effectiveness of a structured educational intervention on their nutritional knowledge. A quasi-experimental one-group pre-test and post-test study was conducted among 1,000 tribal adolescent girls aged 10–15 years enrolled across 21 government Ashram schools in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra. Data were collected using standardized anthropometric procedures (height, weight, and Body Mass Index), a 24-hour dietary recall schedule compared against ICMR-NIN (2020) Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA), and a validated 15-item nutrition knowledge questionnaire before and after a targeted educational intervention. The mean height, weight, and BMI of participants were 149.55±4.04cm, 36.09±4.84kg, and 16.11±1.73kg/m2, respectively. Overall, 45.9% of the girls were classified as underweight (BMI<18.5kg/m2), while 54.1 % were in the healthy weight range (18.5–23kg/m2), with 0% overweight or obese. The 24-hour dietary recall revealed significant micronutrient shortfalls: mean daily calcium intake was 603.65±70.40mg (60.4% of RDA; p<0.001), daily iron intake was 26.03±4.11mg (94.7% of RDA; p<0.001), and total caloric intake was 2128.29±217.37kcal (96.7% of RDA; p<0.001). The educational intervention significantly improved mean nutrition knowledge scores from 5.67±2.53 (37.8%) at pre-test to 11.77±2.12 (78.5%) at post-test (t=56.35, p<0.001, Cohen's d=1.782). Tribal adolescent girls in Yavatmal district present high rates of undernutrition and imbalanced dietary intake characterized by severe calcium and mild iron deficits. Structured, school-based nutrition education is highly effective in increasing nutritional literacy, though sustainable health outcomes require parallel food enrichment and infrastructure improvements.