Background and objectives: Adequate nutrition and a good dietary practice play an important role in recovery from tuberculosis (TB). Improper dietary practice and poor nutrition lead to low immunity in the host and thus increase the risk of active TB in addition to relapse and mortality. The objective of the study was to assess the dietary intake and its determinants in patients on anti-tubercular treatment.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, in four Designated Microscopic Centres under the administration of the District TB Cell of Aligarh district from January 2020 to December 2021. Adult TB patients undergoing treatment between the ages of 18 to 60 years were enrolled. A semi-structured questionnaire was used as a study tool. The 24-hour recall method was used for eliciting dietary intake as it had less recall bias. The sufficient and insufficient dietary cut offs were chosen from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) nutrient guidelines for TB patients. The data was analyzed by appropriate statistical tests.

Results: A total of 410 TB patients participated in the study. Majority (61.7%) of the patients were unemployed and 46.8% belonged to the lower middle class. Of the total cases, 83.2% patients were consuming energy below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). The protein intake was sub-optimal in 71%, while 52% were taking fat below RDA. Age, gender, and education of the participants were significantly associated (< 0.05) with their energy and protein intake.

Conclusions: The participants’ intake of nutrients was suboptimal compared to RDA. Thus, there is a need to improve the nutritional status of TB patients. Therefore, findings of the study could be utilised to plan programs for improved nutritional care for under privileged TB patients living in rural and urban areas.

January 2025; Vol. 19(1):007.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.55010/imcjms.19.007

*Correspondence: S. Danish Iqbaal, Senior Resident, Department of  Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna-800014, Bihar, India. Email: [email protected];

© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License(CC BY 4.0).