Health profile of Anganwadi sevikas working in rural Thane- a cross-sectional study

Background: Anganwadi sevikas are the frontline workers of integrated child development services (ICDS) programme, providing a parcel of services to the children below six years of age, females in the reproductive age group, pregnant and lactating mothers. Promoting the health and welfare of this frontline force is critical to improve the delivery of services. Methods: The present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in July, 2024 among 58 Anganwadi sevikas working in the catchment area of two rural health training centers of Rajiv Gandhi Medical College, Thane by using purposive sampling method. Socio-demographic profile and health status of the Anganwadi sevikas was recorded in pre-designed and pre-tested formatted proforma by interviewing them. The data was entered in Microsoft Excel and analysed. SE (p1-p2) test was applied. The statistical level of significance was fixed at p<0.05. Results: 58 Anganwadi sevikas were included in the study. 17(29.31%) subjects were in the age group of 18-40 years while 41 (70.69%) were in the age group of >40-58 years. The mean BMI of Anganwadi sevikas was 23.63 kg/m2. 17 (29.31%) subjects were suffering from one or more non-communicable diseases while 41 (70.69%) did not have any health issues. Nobody was suffering communicable disease. 13 (22.41%) subjects were suffering from musculoskeletal disorders. 05 (08.62%) subjects had suffered from COVID-19. Conclusions: Previous studies done on Anganwadi sevikas have focused primarily on the efficiency of service delivery. This study focused on their health and welfare issues. We observed, many Anganwadi sevikas were suffering from non-communicable diseases. This issue should be highlighted in the policy for them.