Introduction

Health is the general condition of a person in all aspects. It is also a level of functional and/or metabolic efficiency of an organism. According to Clements (1932), ‘Health is of universal interest and concern’. Overall health is achieved through a combination of physical, mental, and social well-being, which, together is commonly referred to as the ‘Health Triangle’. Achieving and maintaining health is an ongoing process. Effective strategies for staying healthy and improving one's health include several elements. The health problems of any community are influenced by interplay of various factors including social, economic and political ones. The common beliefs, customs and practices related to health and disease influence the health seeking behaviour of the community.

The middle childhood, the years between infancy and adolescence, is a unique developmental time when children undergo critical physical, cognitive, and social changes. During this time, children enter school, and their social context broadens beyond their families. There is no exact consensus regarding an age range defining middle childhood. Middle childhood has also been differentiated from adolescence cross-culturally, largely by the onset of puberty (Collins, 1984). Middle childhood has been delimited differently by many scholars, as ages 6 to 10 (Eccles, 1999), and ages 6 to 12 (Collins, 1984).

The Pasi is a scheduled caste and distributed in the states of Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. A small number of Pasi are also found in Terai region of Nepal. The Pasi, supposedly the earliest inhabitants of the Awadh region, are found throughout Uttar Pradesh, but are concentrated in Hardoi, Sitapur, Kheri, Shahjahanpur, Lucknow and Allahabad. Basically, the Pasi community practices agriculture, but many of them have started to migrate in cities and are now engaged in business, private services, government services and as industrial labour. The pasi have a number of exogamous clans, the main ones being Amlak, Bhargav, Jamdagni, Parswa and Piplak. They have sub-groups viz. Bauriya, Bittiha, Ahirs, Gujjar, Khatik, Rajpasi. A small number of Pasi have converted to Islam and are known as Turuk Pasi (Singh, 1971, Nag & Harit, 1972). The colonial anthropologist Ibbetson (1916) claims that the name Pasi is derived from the Hindi word pasa meaning ‘noose’, with the help of which they climb the tall toddy palm tree. During the British rule the Pasi were known as a criminal tribe who were thieves, looters and marauders. They were skilled in the use of bow & arrow and stick. In 1952, when the colonial Criminal Tribes Act, 1924 was repealed in the Parliament, the Pasi were declared a Scheduled Caste. This granted them the benefit of reserved quotas in government jobs, admissions to medical and engineering colleges and many other schemes. However, they still suffer the effects of caste system which has left them despised and rejected.

Methodology

The study is based on first hand information, which includes both primary as well as secondary sources of data. In the course of this study, extensive field work was undertaken between the years of 2011-2012. The sample for the present study is of 300 Pasi children, from 6 years to 11 years of age. Out of 110 wards of Lucknow city, the sample of 10 wards has been selected through random sampling to represent the entire city. Then according to sex and age-group, from each ward 30 children have been selected. The study began with an informal visit to the Pasi families to familiarize the researcher with the people. After a month they were interviewed with the use of an interview schedule. Along with it, observation and case study methods were used extensively for the study.

Result & Discussion

Health is ‘a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO, 1948). Thus, health status of different communities is influenced by their way of life including their social and economic conditions, nutrition and living conditions, dietary habits, housing, education, child rearing practices, socio-religious beliefs, taboos and superstitions etc.