Young Indian diet lacks fruits & vegetables
A research has revealed that young Indians are falling considerably short of the daily intake of fruits and vegetables as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
A survey by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) noted that if WHO recommends 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily for adults below age 35, the young Indian are actually consuming only 3.5 servings.
Arpita Mukherjee, a professor at ICRIER, New Delhi says, ‘It was found that young Indians are more prone towards consuming fast food, which is easily available and, according to them, are tastier than home cooked food.’ She further added, ‘The youngsters prefer processed and packaged foods which are faster to prepare and easily available. The young students and those working blamed staying away from home, busy schedule and work pressure the reasons for the diet shortfall.’
The primary survey covered 1,001 respondents from Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR.
The WHO panel on diet, nutrition and prevention of chronic diseases recommends a daily intake of at least 400 grams (or five daily servings with an average serving size of 80 gm) of fruits and vegetables. It excluded potatoes, cassava and other starchy tubers to prevent diet-related chronic diseases and micro-nutrient deficiencies.
The survey findings noted, ‘While the average for all Indian upper and middle class consumers is 3.5 daily servings – which implies that they are falling short of the WHO recommendations, for those below the age of 35, it is further lower at 3.3 servings.’
‘The youngsters argue that in India, there are limited options for cut and packed fruits and processed vegetables – which are ready to eat,’ Mukherjee added.
Apart from juices and certain processed vegetables like peas, there are hardly any processing fruits like lichee or different types of berries.
According to Souvik Dutta, assistant professor at IIM Bangalore, young Indians are aware that there are issues related to the presence of pesticides in fruits and vegetables which stops them from eating those raw. ‘They are also aware that fresh fruits and vegetables are better than processed food,’ Dutta noted.
Some survey respondents also pointed out that they are aware that daily intake of the five servings of fruits and vegetables reduced the risk of stroke and other diseases.
The survey was conducted in association with the independent Spectrum Research Group and Amway Opportunity Foundation, and aimed to understand the actual fruits and vegetables consumption patterns of adults in India and compare this to the WHO recommendations.
