Indians prefer cereals, neglect other food items: ICMR study

New Delhi: Indians remain hooked to cereals, while neglecting other components of a balanced diet like pulses, vegetables, fruits, milk and meat, shows a govt study. The study has compared food consumption patterns of the Indian households with the latest nutrition guidelines recommended by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Barring Kerala and only urban areas of Punjab and Tamil Nadu, the study shows that cereal consumption far exceeds the monthly recommendation of 7.5 kg a person in other states. Among Union territories (UTs), individuals in Delhi, Puducherry, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep have lower cereal consumption than the recommendation.

In rural areas, West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura and Manipur (11.2 kg) consumed the most amount of cereals, followed by Bihar (11.1 kg), Rajasthan (10.5 kg) and Chhattisgarh (10.3 kg). In urban areas, Tripura (11.2 kg) led the chart, followed by Manipur (11.1 kg), Bihar (10.5 kg), Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (10.4 kg).

Typically, cereal consumption dips and protein and fat intake rise as income levels increase.

"With more processed foods and food restaurants being available, dining out is becoming a part of lifestyle for a significant proportion of the population. Medical experts believe that this practice will lead to enhanced prevalence of non-communicable diseases in the country. Consequentially, the productivity of the country will be negatively impacted and burdened due to medical expenditure," the study based on data from the 2022-23 household consumption expenditure data and published in the biannual journal of the statistics ministry noted.

People in both urban and rural areas of all states and UTs consume far less vegetables than recommended norm of 12 kg per person per month. The severity of this can be gauged as vegetable consumption was the highest in Chhattisgarh - 6.7kg in rural areas and 8.3kg in urban areas. In nearly 15 states and UTs, people consume less than 5 kg vegetables a month. Pulses' consumption too remains lower in the country than prescribed 2.6 kg per person a month for vegetarians and 1.7 kg for non-vegetarians. In nearly 28 states and UTs, data highlights monthly pulses consumption of less than a kg, pointing to severe likelihood of protein deficiency.

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