Dietary-/ Eating-/ Food- habits: India
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Cereals, the consumption of
1999-2023
June 10, 2024: The Times of India
From: June 10, 2024: The Times of India
New Delhi; The share of cereals in total expenditure in rural India varies from 3% in Haryana, Kerala and Punjab to 7% in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, survey results have shown.
Household Consumption Expenditure survey (HCES) for 2022-23 showed that in urban India, the share varies from 3% in Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu to 6% in Bihar and Jharkhand.
There has been a gradual decline in per capita quantity consumption of cereals in rural as well as urban areas between 1999-2000 to 2022-23 as greater prosperity has prompted people to shift to proteins, processed food and other items. For instance, monthly per capita cereal consumption was highest in West Bengal at 11.2%, followed by Bihar at 11.1%. Kerala had lowest at 6.6%.
When it comes to percentage share of rice in total consumption of cereals, Assam was at 95.9%, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at 92.2%, Telangana at 92.1% and Odisha at 90.7%.
Lowest was in Rajasthan at 3.2% and Haryana at 9.8% and Punjab at 11.6%.
“As incomes go up, cereal consumption goes down and more of proteins, milk, meat and eggs, and fruits and vegetables are consumed,” said Ashok Gulati, Infosys chair professor of agriculture at economic think tank ICRIER, highlighting steady rise in incomes over the years which has helped income inequality to dip across country.
For wheat, highest consumption was Haryana at 88.6%, Punjab 87.5% and Rajasthan at 84.8%.
Lowest was in Assam at 4%, followed by Telangana at 5%, Tamil Nadu at 7.2%, Chhattisgarh at 7.8% and Odisha at 8.4%. Karnataka had highest share in coarse grains at 19.4%, followed by Gujarat at 16.7% and Maharashtra at 12.3%. Share of West Bengal was nil, followed by UP and Kerala at 0.1%, Punjab at 0.6%.
The survey results showed that the share of food in total consumption expenditure of rural households varies from 39% in Kerala to 54% in Bihar and Assam. For the urban sector, the share of food in consumption expenditure varies from 35% in Telangana to 47 % in Assam and Bihar. Information in the survey was collected from 8,723 villages and 6,115 urban blocks spread over the entire country covering 2,61,746 households (1,55,014 in rural and 1,06,732 in urban areas).
Deficiencies
2019 – 21 WHO study
Malathy Iyer, Oct 23, 2024: The Times of India
Mumbai : The diet of over three-quarters of India’s children aged between 6-23 months is poor and lacks “diversity” as defined by WHO, new research has found.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), children in the six-to 23-months bracket should have minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and consume five out of the eight recommended food groups. Children who have less than five of these food groups are considered as minimum dietary diversity failures (MDDF).
However, the study, published in National Medical Journal of India a publication of AIIMS also had something to take heart from. “There was a slight improvement in MDDF from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3, when 87% of this age group were MDDF, to 77% as per NFHS-5 conducted in 2019-2021,” said author Gaurav Gunnal from International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar.
Eight states including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat had a high MDDF of over 80%. Only 95 districts in the south, east, and the North-East out of India’s 707 districts had a low prevalence of dietary failure at 60% or lower.
“Dietary failure was higher among kids who were females, from lower socioeconomic groups, did not receive food from anganwadi centres, and were born to younger mothers,” said Gunnal and co-author Dhruvi Bagaria from Indian Institute of Public Health in Gandhinagar.
Dietary diversity helps combat deficiency of micronutrients that play an important role in development and growth. Poor nutrition increases risks of delayed motor and cognitive development, weak learning, low immunity, poor metabolism, memory, and increased susceptibility to infections.
According to NFHS-5, one in every three children is ‘underweight and stunted’, while one in every five children is ‘wasted’ in India.
State-wise
2009-2023
June 9, 2024: The Times of India
From: June 9, 2024: The Times of India
From: June 9, 2024: The Times of India
New Delhi : Share of milk and milk products in total consumption is higher in rural areas in Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh while eggs, meat and fish account for a greater share for households in Kerala.
The final Household Consumption Expenditure survey, released by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) late Friday, also shows that for other states, beverages & processed food have the maximum share in rural segments. In urban areas, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have the maximum share of consumption for milk and milk products. For the remaining states, it’s beverages and processed food. The survey data shows significant shifts in rural and urban consumption with the share of food and cereals coming down. This is in line with the trend visible in earlier surveys.
Share of food spend plummeted in both urban & rural India: NSSO ’’’
Spend On TVs, Processed Food, Healthcare Up
Spending on non-food items such as fridge, television, beverages and processed food, medical and transportation have increased between 2011-12 and 2022-23 while expenditure on food such as cereals and pulses has slowed. Households in Haryana had the highest share of milk and milk products in total consumption at 41.7%, followed by Rajasthan at 35.5%, and Punjab at 34.7%.
Chhattisgarh and West Bengal had the lowest share at 7.5% and 7.4%, respectively, under this category.
In the rural areas, households in Rajasthan and Gujarat had the lowest share of eggs, meat and fish in total consumption at 2.6%, followed by Punjab at 3%.
The share of food is seen to have shrunk from 59.4% in 1999-00 to 46.4% in 2022-23 in rural areas and from 48.1% to 39.2% in urban areas during the corresponding period, according to the survey results.
The decline in share has been the steepest for cereals, which has come down to 4.9% in 2022-23 from 22.2% in 1999-2000 in rural India. For urban India, the corresponding share has declined to 3.6% in 2022-23 from 12.4% in 1999-2000.
Sugar consumption
2019
TNN, January 9, 2020: The Times of India
From: TNN, January 9, 2020: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Most of us know that consuming excess sugar may have a health impact. But for most of us, that is hardly an argument convincing enough to make us shun sweets. While fruits, vegetables and dairy products are among foods that naturally contain sugar, we also end up consuming added sugar in the form of desserts, sweet beverages and suchlike.
An ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, survey, which was sponsored by International Life Sciences Institute-India (ILSI-India), measured added sugar intake levels in seven major metro cities. Here’s what it found.
What is added sugar?
The sugars and syrups added to foods during processing. Desserts, sodas and energy and sports drinks are among foods/beverages that contain added sugars. WHO guidelines issued in 2015 called for adults and children to reduce daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake. It added that a further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 gm (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits. That would suggest most Indian metros are keeping their added sugar use in check.
‘What India eats’
As in 2019
October 12, 2020: The Times of India
From: October 12, 2020: The Times of India
A healthy diet is the first line of defence against disease, but while most find it hard to stick to a balanced diet, nutritional deficiencies are especially stark in India, says a survey by Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN). Missing out on key foods can lead to diseases like diabetes or heart disease, which are big risk factors for Covid.
ICMR-NIN recommends a 2,000-calorie diet for adults, and the actual intake is 1,943 calories in urban areas across the country and 2,081 calories in the rural areas. But these calorifically adequate diets actually conceal major deficiencies, says the report, which presents the first-ever break-up of the energy Indians derive from different food groups.
DIET AFFECTS HEALTH
The urban North has high obesity and abdominal obesity rates that match its high fat intake. Rural parts of central India, where cereal use far exceeds recommended levels, has the highest prevalence of chronic energy deficiency (CED). While the report says its recommendation does not represent a “therapeutic diet”, consumption of foods at prescribed levels and regular physical activity can boost the immune system and reduce risk of illness.
NORTHEAST TOPS IN CALORIE COUNT
Beyond their over-dependence on cereals, diets across India reflect great variety. Each region relies on certain foods more than the others. Calorie intake also varies by region, from 2,909 calories in the Northeast to 1,723 calories in the urban areas of North India. Data not given for rural consumption in North and Northeast
MORE FAT IN THE NORTH, PROTEIN IN SOUTH, NORTHEAST
Here’s how urban diets look in the different regions of India for the six key food groups that make up more than 80%, or four- fifths, of the recommended daily mix.
Cereals
Average diets in urban North India are the closest to the recommended level for cereals. Urban areas in both the East and NE get close to 60% of their daily energy from cereals
Meat
Pulses and legumes, and meat, poultry and fish are interchangeable in diets and together should make up 17% of total energy intake
Milk
Indian diets crimp on milk and milk products, too, with East and NE most deficient
Pulses
More than 10% of daily energy should come from pulses and legumes, but most diets are lacking in dals and beans. The Northeast is better than the other regions in this respect
Veggies For a country known to love its veggies, their low consumption is surprising. Eastern India fares best among regions
Fats The urban North has the highest fat intake while South has the least
Source: 'What India Eats', report by ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition
What do Indians eat the most
Chandrima Banerjee, May 20, 2022: The Times of India
What do Indians eat the most?
Dal, green vegetables and milk. Across age, gender, economic background, religion, caste — nothing changes this pattern. Nearly half of India has them every day. For every other type of food, more Indians say they have them weekly or occasionally.
This is not surprising. All three are found easily and are relatively more value-for-money than, say, meat.
In 2005, the third NFHS asked both women and men about their food habits for the first time (before that, the second survey had only asked women). When the numbers are compared, the changing preferences are evident.
More people, for instance, have fruits at least once a week now than they did 15 years ago (40% then vs 50% now for women, and 47% then vs 56% now for men). The numbers have not changed for the richest (72-74% both times). How has the jump happened then? It is because the poorest have fruits more often now (27% women and 37% men) than they did in 2005 (16% women and 19% men). The gap is terribly wide but the trajectory is towards a narrower one.
The other big jump has been in the share of people who have milk. In 2015, just 55% of women and 67% of men said they had milk once a week. Now, the shares are up to 72% women and 80% men. Again, while the increase in share has been the highest for the poorest (31% to 53% for women, and 43% to 62% for men), it’s because they had more ground to cover in the first place. But the relatively low consumption of both in economically disadvantaged households has been flagged in the latest survey as “deficiencies in the diet”. So, while there may have been an increase, it is still not enough.
So, who eats non-vegetarian food?
About 85% men and 72% women. In the survey, 17% men and 29% women said they have never had fish, chicken or any other meat. That leaves 83% men and 71% women as non-vegetarians (which the survey report also says). But it does not take into account the share of people who have eggs. Among women, 28% said they have never had eggs (leaving 72% who had) and among men, 15% did (leaving 85% non-vegetarians).
Among both women and men, more Christians have meat regularly than Muslims. If fish is also taken into account, the numbers change but the pattern remains the same. In fact, besides the Jain community, the Sikh community has the lowest share of non-vegetarians by far.
The caste breakup also dispels a myth — of vegetarianism among dominant castes. Because while men (60%) and women (48%) from the Scheduled Caste have the highest share who eat fish, chicken or meat, the dominant caste group is a very very close second (59% men and 47% women).
Among states, the most widespread meat consumption habits are in Kerala for men and Andhra Pradesh for women. For fish, women and men in Goa (both 92%) take the lead. And when it comes to having eggs at least once a week, women (83%) and men (88%) in Andhra Pradesh are at the top.
If the question is widened to ask if people have either fish or meat, then Goa (93% women and 94% men) has the highest share of non-vegetarians.
But overall, just 45% of women have fish or meat once a week while among men, that’s 57%.
What do women eat then?
The same things that men do, but less often. Fruits, for instance. Most women said they have it occasionally. But most men said they have it weekly.
Then, it’s also about how food is perceived. If it’s a discretionary purchase (good to have but not essential), then power dynamics determine who gets access to it. Fried food and aerated beverages are good examples.
Just 16% of women have aerated beverages once a week (among men, it’s 25%). It’s a massive drop since 2005, when 24% of women did. It might seem like a healthy trend but there’s more to it. Because with wealth — 11% of the poorest against 21% of the richest — the share of women who have them goes up. The same goes for fried food.
Does this change when women are pregnant or breastfeeding? A tiny bit for the first and not at all for the second. In fact, fewer breastfeeding women have fruits or milk than women who are neither pregnant nor breastfeeding.
What does all of this translate into? Nutritional deficiency, it seems. Across India, 25% men have anaemia, caused by deficiencies in iron, folate, and vitamins B12 and A. For women, that share is 57%.
(Lead illustration: Sajeev Kumarapuram)
