The Correlation Between Food Security and Health Status of Tribal Communities: A Case Study of Selected Tribal Villages in Nashik District

Abstract

The present investigation aims to the correlation between food security and the health status of tribal communities: a case study of selected tribal villages in Nashik district. It is based on primary data collected from 300 sample tribal households across 15 sample villages in the Nashik district. The present paper is a major analysis of the food security index (food availability, food accessibility, food stability, and food utilization), the health status index, and its correlation with the selected tribal villages in the study region. The study applies the Min-Max Normalisation Index technique to analyse the level of food security, and health status in tribal communities, and the Pearson correlation coefficient technique is applied to the correlation between food security and health status. The study observes regional imbalances in the levels of food security and health status among tribal communities in the selected villages. Generally, developed areas exhibit a high food security index, while less developed regions, particularly tribal areas, have the lowest levels of food security. Similar conditions are observed in the health status of these tribal villages. The correlation analysis reveals a strong positive relationship between the food security index and the health status index in these villages. This indicates a significant positive causal relationship between food security and health status, where higher food security directly leads to better health outcomes in the selected tribal villages.