Nutrition: India
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Contents |
Statistics, year-wise
1993-2011: Changes
Dec 27 2014
India's eating habits may have changed, but not nutrition levels
Subodh Varma
In the past two decades, India's eating habits have changed but the nutritional level seems to be the same, a recent survey has found. Across the board, people are eating less cereals, replacing them with more fat and snacks, beverages and processed foods. Protein consumption has declined in rural areas and remained the same in urban areas. The average calorific val ue of food consumed was 2,099 kilocalories (Kcal) per person per day in rural areas and 2,058 Kcal in urban areas in 2011, according to the survey report released last week by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).This is less than the nutritional value in 1993-94, when a similar survey had found the levels at 2,153 in rural areas and 2,099 in urban areas.
The National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, recommends 2,320 Kcal a day for a man aged 18-29 years, weighing 60kg and in a sedentary job. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have nutritional levels that are almost 10% lower than the national average for rural areas while UP, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have levels 10 to 20% higher, according to a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey .
Another shocking aspect is the huge difference in nutritional intake of the poor and the rich. In rural India, a person belonging to the poorest 10% of population has a daily calorie intake of less than 1,724 Kcal, which includes 45g of protein with protein consumption at about 45g and 24g of fat. At the other end, a person from the richest 10% segment consumes more than 2,531 Kcal every day , almost 47% more than the poor person. A similar chasm can be seen in protein and fat consumption too.
In urban areas, this gap is worse. The poorest people get less than 1,679 Kcal per day while the richest get over 2,518 Kcal each -a difference of nearly 50%.
80% in rural India don't get required nutrition
Almost 80% of rural people and 70% of urban people are not getting the government-recommended 2,400 Kcal per day worth of nutrition, a situation that has very harmful health implications, apart from its sheer in humanity .
At the national level, daily protein consumption dipped from 60.2g for a person in 199394 to 56.5g in 2011-12 in rural areas and from 57.2g to 55.7g in urban areas. Oil and fat consumption increased from 31 to nearly 42g in rural areas and from 42 to 52.5g in urban areas.
The shares of items like fruits and vegetables, dairy products and egg, meat and fish was about 9% in 1993-94 which has marginally changed to about 9.6% in 2011-12.
The only food item that has seen a substantial jump in intake is classified as `other' in the survey and consists of various hot and cold beverages, processed food like chips, biscuits etc. and snacks. In 1993-94 these made up just 2% of a rural person's nutritional intake but rose to over 7% in 2011-12. In urban areas, this was 5.6% earlier and increased to about 9%.
The report also estimates that the survey would have counted food bought and prepared in a household but eaten by visitors or employees. If this is accounted for, calorific values get reduced by as much as 15-17% in rural areas and 5-6% in urban areas.
Nutrition, urban, 2017, state-wise
Afshan Yasmeen, October 6, 2017: The Hindu
Odisha tops in intake of greens, Kerala consumes the least; sweet consumption high in M.P., says study
A nation-wide study carried out by the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) to assess urban nutrition shows not only a great diversity in food consumption in 16 States in the country, but also that Indians consume far less than the recommended quantum of several micro-nutrients and vital vitamins. Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported the highest intake of flesh foods, including meat and fish, Odisha has the highest consumption of green leafy vegetables (GLV). On an average, while the recommended dietary intake of GLV is 40g/CU/day, the consumption in the country is 24g/CU/day.
Madhya Pradesh has the lowest intake of flesh foods and Kerala consumes the least green leafy vegetables.
If Madhya Pradesh has a sweet tooth with the highest intake of sugar and jaggery, Odisha and Assam have the highest intake of salt. Rajasthan is high on the intake of fats and oils as well and milk and milk products.
The study, led by Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist (Director Grade) from National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), the country’s premier nutrition research institute, was released recently. The researchers used the method of a 24-hour dietary recall to collect food and nutrient information from 1.72 lakh people in 16 States.
While the average intake of cereals and millets was found to be 320g/CU/day, which is lower than the recommended dietary intake (RDI), the intake of pulses and legumes was about 42g/CU/day. This is on par with the suggested level of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said Dr. Laxmaiah.
States and Union Territories covered in the survey held in 2015-16: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, New Delhi, Puducherry and Rajasthan.
Dietary energy, sources
2014: sources of dietary energy
Apr 25 2015
The diet of a particular group of people is influenced by various factors including income, prices, personal and cultural preferences and geography. This also leads to different sources of dietary energy given the diverse dietary habits in different countries or regions. In India, about 60% of the dietary energy comes from cereals.Meat products contribute only 0.8% of the total energy, which is among the lowest in the world. In most Western countries, in contrast, cereals provide less than 30% of energy while more than 10% comes from meat products SOURCE: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Research: Atul Thakur ; Graphic: Asheeran Punjabi
Malnutrition: its extent, its effects
Anaemia
2005, 2016
In a stark and chilling reminder of the reali ties of life in India, the recently released fa mily health survey (NFHS 4) results show that over 58% of children below five years of age are anaemic, that is, they suffer from insufficient haemoglobin in the blood, leaving them exhausted, vulnerable to infections, and possibly affecting their brain development.
The survey , which was carried out in 2015 16 and covered six lakh households, also showed that around 38% of children in the same age group were stunted, 21% were wasted and 36% underweight. While all the internationally accepted markers of children's health have improved since the last such survey in 2005-06, the levels of undernourishment, caused mainly by poverty , are still high and the improvement too slow.
Based on the 2011 Census data, the total number of children under five in India in 2015 is projected at 12.4 crore. So, around 7.2 crore children are anaemic, nearly 5 crore are stunted, around 2.6 crore are wasted and 4.4 crore are underweight. These numbers are not too different from those in 2005-06. Since popula tion has increased, their share is down.
The World Health Organisation says high levels of these markers are clear indications of “poor socio-economic conditions“ and “suboptimal health andor nutritional conditions“.In short, lack of food, unhealthy living conditions and poor health delivery systems. The WHO defines wasting as low weight for height, stunting as low height for age, and underweight as low weight for age.
The survey also found that just over half of all pregnant women were anaemic. This would automatically translate into their newborn being weak. Overall, 53% of women and 23% of men in the 15-49 age group were anaemic.
There is wide variation among states. The data for UP has not been released in view of the ongoing polls, according to Balram Paswan, professor at Mumbai-based International Institute for Population Sciences which was the nodal agency for the survey done for the health ministry . But poorer states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have higher than national average rates on all markers.
More advanced states like those in the south, Haryana and Gujarat have slightly better numbers but are still at unacceptable levels. In Tamil Nadu, 51% children are anaemic while in Kerala it is over one-third. In many states, stunting has declined but the share of severely wasted children has increased. These are clear signs of an endemic crisis of hunger in the country that policy makers don't appear to be addressing.
Child malnutrition
2006- 2014: Child malnutrition declines, but still very high
The Times of India, Dec 11 2015
Malnutrition down, but not enough
Child malnutrition in India has declined but continues to be among the highest in the world. Between 2006 and 2014, stunting levels in children under five declined from 48% to 39% as compared to global level of 24%, the India Nutrition Report says.
Being stunted means that the affected children are not fulfilling their potential either in childhood or as adults and their brain and immune systems are compromised, often for their entire life, the reports says. However, there has been an increase in the decline rate of stunting at the national level. “Though India's national rate of stunting decline has increased from 1.7% in 200506, to now 2.6%, it is not fast enough,“ said Lawrence Habbad, senior researcher from International Food Policy Research Institute. A global report assessing India's performance vis-à-vis 193 countries concluded that India was on track to meet only two of the eight global targets on nutrition though it had significantly improved its performance in the past 10 years.
The India Nutrition report and the Global Nutrition Report was released by Union ministers J P Nadda and Maneka Gandhi on Thursday .
Nadda urged for suggestions to accelerate action at state level and strengthening and accountability for impact of nutrition programmes.
In order to strengthen the ICDS programme, women and child development ministry has been undertaking capacity building measures for Anganwadi workers equipping them with tablet devices and giving them promotional abilities, Gandhi said.
Diabetes and poor food habits
Indians' poor food habits fuelling diabetes
The Times of India, Nov 06 2015
Malathy Iyer
Indians' poor food habits fuelling diabetes, finds survey What Indians eat and how could be fuelling the dia betes epidemic across the coun try, suggests a new survey that interviewed 4,000 diabetic pa tients across eight cities. The main culprit could be the Indian craving for rice, fine flour rotis or upma -all carbo hydrate-based foodstuff high on calories but low on muchneeded fibre. “Rice accounts for 48% of the daily calorific intake of most Indians, said endocrinologist Dr V Mohan from Chennai.
Considering that most types of white rice rapidly increase the blood sugar levels, caution is advised.
But urban Indians who suffers from diabetes seem far from cautious. The new survey , titled Food, Spikes and Diabetes Survey, showed seven out o f 10 people with diabetes in urban India paid little attention to what and how much they eat.Carbohydrates are supposed to comprise only 60% of the plate, but 70% of those surveyed in Mumbai and 84% of those in Chennai consumed more.
There is also a problem with how Indians eat. “Indians tend to eat so fast that the pancreas struggle to produce adequate insulin for metabolising the food, said Dr Shashank Joshi, president of the Indian Academy of Diabetes.
Indian diabetic patients also fail to observe healthy gaps between meals, said Dr Joshi.
Protein deficiency
In 6 major cities, 2017
73% OF URBAN RICH INDIA IS PROTEIN DEFICIENT|Jul 27 2017 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Large sections of Indians cannot afford a balanced diet. But what makes the urban rich follow diets that are low on protein? An IMRB survey reveals the high levels of protein deficiency among the well-heeled and the protein myths they believe.
