Most Indians non vegetarian; south and east India more than others: Survey

India’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has been advocating vegetarianism on grounds of religion and ideology, the latest being an effort by Indian Railways railways to enforce vegetarian menus on all trains on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, October 2.

However, around 80% of Indian men and 70% of women consume eggs, fish, chicken or meat occasionally, if not weekly, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of national health data. But their daily diet tends to be vegetarian, consisting of milk or curd, pulses or beans and dark green and leafy vegetables,

Overall, 42.8% Indian women and 48.9% men consumed fish, chicken or meat weekly, according to the National Family Health Survey, 2015-16 (NFHS-4).

It is important to assess the average diet of an Indian because both malnutrition and obesity are a problem: 53.7% women and 22.7% men are anaemic and 22.9% of women and 20.2% of men are thin (with body mass index of less than 18.5) while 20.7% of women and 18.9% men are overweight or obese, according to the same data.