The Ministry of Health came under the wrath of Twitterati following a tweet indicating healthy eating habits. The Health Department posted a tweet featuring two women showcasing that vegetarian diet helped in being healthy. The photo shows two women of which the curvey one is associated with non-vegetarian and junk foods while vegetables and fruits are shown to be essential for leaner body type. The caption along with the picture read, "Good nutrition is one of the keys to a #healthy life. Choose wisely, live well. #SwasthaBharat #AyushmanBharat #HealthForAll."

The Health Ministry was accused of body shaming and trying to mend people's eating habits by associating 'vegetarianism' with good health and non-vegetarian food as unhealthy and overweight. Tweeples also opposed to how eggs were related to as bad eating habits and obesity.

The food associated with the curvey women included meat, eggs, bread, burgers, beer, bread, doughnuts, fries and aerated drinks while the 'healthy' woman was vegetables and fruits, including some avocado and raspberries. Twitter users also accused the Health Ministry to showcasing healthy eating options that can only be afforded by the rich. The tweet was deleted after it received widespread backlash on social media.

 

Here is the tweet:

The Health Ministry was accused of spreading wrong eating habits

They were also mocked for deleting the tweet following criticisms

Eggs are unhealthy, since when?

Their claims were questioned

Any proof, Health Ministry?

After the tweet initiated widespread talks on healthy food options, we spoke to a Mumbai based dietician on the same. Geeta Shenoy who runs and nutrition and wellness clinic in the city said, "This image is clearly an example of the right hand not knowing what left one does. It has been published, I'm sure, without consulting any nutrition authority."

Further adding she said, "In a balanced diet, veg, as well as non-veg, has equal scope to make it nutritionally sound. Mostly it's the way or form in which it's consumed. Also, food should be suitable for your body type, race, digestion and cultural background. Every individual is different and vegetarianism or non-veg doesn't decide the health quotient."

The Health Ministry or anyone from the related department has not spoken about the fiasco. The Twitter handle did not issue an apology regarding the incident. However, Twitterati continued to question the ministry' stand which perceives vegetarian food as the only healthy food option. Twitterati also questioned their theory which stated the same.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 24, 2018 01:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).