More Non-Vegetarians Than Vegetarians in India With Southern And Northeastern States Topping The List
The study states that individuals with up to five years of education eat more eggs which were 54.2 percent among men and 48.2 percent among women.
India could be easily passed off as a country dominated by vegetarians, considering the current political wave. However, the common notion does not seem to be true with a report by IndiaSpend and FactChecker revealing that 80 percent of Indian men and 70 percent of women eat non-vegetarian food. According to their analysis, only some portion of the country including Northern states prefers vegetarian food.
According to the National Family Health Survey, 2015-16, an overall, 42.8 percent Indian women and 48.9 percent men consumed fish, chicken or meat weekly. The Southern and Northeastern states are dominated by non-vegetarians who consume different types of fish, meat and eggs occasionally, if not weekly. But their daily diet consists of milk or curd, pulses, dark green and leafy vegetables.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had recently come under criticisms when it tweeted an image showing non-vegetarian foods such as eggs and meat along with junk food synonymous to obesity, while a thinner woman's body was associated with vegetables and fruits.
The lowest consumption of non-vegetarian food was found among men in Punjab (10 percent), Rajasthan (10.2 percent) and Haryana (13 percent), while among women it is in Punjab (4 percent), Rajasthan (6 percent) and Haryana (7.8 percent) yet again for women.
Among the women, the highest amount of non-vegetarian was consumed on weekly basis in Kerala (92.8 percent), Goa (85.7 percent) and Assam (80.4 percent), while among men it is in Tripura (94.8 percent), Kerala (90.1 percent) and Goa (88 percent). According to the data, more men than women consume non-vegetarian food in India. While 29.9 percent women do not consume meat or fish, almost 3 in every 10 women do not consume eggs. In men, 19.6 percent do not consume eggs, but 21.6 percent do not eat meat or fish.
The survey stated that caste, wealth, education also determined a person's food choice. Most unmarried men consumed non-veg food - 50.5percent for eggs and 49.2percent for meat and fish. Among women, those who were divorced, widowed or deserted had more non-vegetarian food.
The study states that individuals with up to five years of education eat more eggs which were 54.2 percent among men and 48.2 percent among women. A similar pattern was observed with men (54.2 percent) and women (48.2 percent) who consumed fish and meat. It said Christians consumed eggs and meat the most with men 71.5percent and 75.6percent respectively and 59.7percent and 67.3percent women respectively.
Individuals who said they were not aware of their caste consumed the most non-vegetarian food. While consumption of non-vegetarian food increased depending on one's household wealth, a lower percentage of individuals among the richest 20 percent Indians followed the pattern.
Both malnutrition and obesity are a problem were found with 53.7 percent of women and 22.7 percent of men being anaemic. An estimate of 22.9 percent of women and 20.2 percent of men are thin with their Body Mass Index (BMI) being less than 18.5. It said 20.7 percent of women and 18.9 percent men are overweight or obese.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 23, 2018 12:05 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).