Data from the recently-released National Health and Family Survey (NFHS-5) confirms the hypothesis of a sizeable section of nutrition scholars. The number of Indians who eat non-vegetarian food has been increasing steadily. More than two-thirds of people in the 15-49 age group eat non-vegetarian food daily, weekly or occasionally — a steady rise compared to NHFS-4 when the figure stood at a little over 70 per cent people. The survey’s latest edition also shows that more people in the country eat meat at least once a week compared to 2015-16. The proportion of Indians who eat eggs too has gone up appreciably. The survey’s data on dietary practices, however, shows a distinct gender skew: The increase in the number of men eating non-vegetarian food is far more pronounced compared to women. All this has significant implications for planning on nutrition-related matters — it is especially salutary for policymakers who obstinately hold on to the stereotype of India being a country of vegetarians.
In India, food practices have been, for long, informed by complex rules of religion and caste. In recent times, these habits have become part of the country’s political discourses in ways that have bred acrimony between social groups and stoked violence against minorities. The myth of the vegetarian nation has also influenced policy matters such as serving eggs in the mid-day meal scheme for children attending government and government-aided schools. Barely a third of the states provide eggs to children under the scheme despite the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition — it works under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research — certifying that eggs are loaded with more nutrients and easier to procure compared to alternatives such as milk and bananas.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on May 18, 2022 under the title ‘Meat of the matter’.
