Young Indians not eating enough fruit, veg

People below the age of 35 in India are consuming only 3.3 servings, while the WHO recommends five servings of fruits of vegetables in a day, revealed the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) survey.

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. “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 survey findings noted.

“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. 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.

Source: india.com