A comparative analysis of dietary intake and body composition among two ethnically distinct tribal populations from...

The present paper is an attempt to understand ethnic variations in the association of dietary intake with body composition in two geographically and genetically diverse adult populations, i.e., Santhal, an indigenous group from the plain regions of eastern India and Monpa, an indigenous population from the high-altitude regions of north-eastern India.

A total number of 200 adult Monpa and 204 adult Santhal were recruited for the present investigation, which was conducted in phases. Multiple and multivariate regression frameworks were used in the paper to evaluate the influence of dietary intake on body composition.

In somatotype, the Santhal were found to be predominantly mesomorphic, whereas the Monpa were predominantly endomorphic, irrespective of their gender. Similarly, significantly (p < 0.001) greater percentages of overweight and obese individuals were found among the Monpa, but not among the Santhal.

Despite the fact that both these tribes are engaged in primitive technology-based agriculture that requires a lot of physical labour, such difference in their body composition could be due to fundamental differences in the physical environment and great dietary/nutritional intake. In fact, it was found that Monpa follow a daily diet that is highly rich in dairy fat and animal protein, as compared to their counterpart Santhal. Santhal's daily diet generally consists of rice and boil vegetables, with protein consumption as low as once or twice a month. However, despite these differences the paper revealed no significant influence of dietary intake on the body composition of these populations. Hence, an adaptive approach is proposed to understand the substantial proportion of body composition variations in these two ethnically diverse populations.