Off late I have been researching on Nutrition deficiency in India and some of the results are quite interesting:
1. Even though there is a wide-spread perception that Indians are vegetarian, only 31% of the population is vegetarian and this is also depleting fast.
2. The vegetarians in India are more likely to suffer malnutrition. (Rich and poor alike.) this is a lot to do with imbalance. There is a prevalent mass scale protein & iron deficiency. In children & females this is in unmanageable proportions. Furthermore higher instance of vegetarianism in India is only compounding the problem. The average pulses intake in India is far below the UN recommendation, A lot of people have a disdain towards leafy greens because they equate it to Ghaas Phoos.
3. Although majority of the butcheries & restaurant advertize Halal, there is no scientific or quality process to verify the claims. Most staunch religious just procure from a muslim shop and pray that they have been religious enough.
4. India has probably the highest cattle population. Yet red meat (beef, pork, mutton etc.) are not sold/consumed much.
5. Although most counties have enforced strict iron fortification, bulk of the Indian food is not fortified.
I am not trying to push people into eating meat. All i am saying is that iron & protein deficiency in India is alarming and needs to be addressed. When pregnant women & growing children have food deficiencies our future generations are doomed. India has malnutrition on one hand, food grains rotting in the government warehouses & so much of cattle not being consumed due to political/religious sentiments.
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