leaders and policymakers don’t debate the reason why there is malnutrition among children and anaemia among men and women of even wealthier households. In my view, apart from other factors such as food shortages, unsafe drinking water, unhygienic living conditions and food taboos cause malnutrition among children and anaemia among men and women.
The NFHS-3 report collected data on food habits of Indians. In Delhi, for instance, 40 per cent women aged 15-49 never ate meat/fish/chicken/eggs. In all likelihood, they would not have fed their babies any no-vegetarian food. In case of men, 20 per cent of them never ate meat/fish/chicken/eggs. At the national level, 33 per cent women and 24 per cent men never had these things in their lives.
It is no one’s point that only non-vegetarian food guarantees good health. Vegetarian food, too, can be as good as, if not better than, non-vegetarian stuff.
Those who don’t eat non-vegetarian food need to eat dairy products, fruits and leafy green vegetables aggressively. Since poor can’t afford dairy products and fruits, let us confine on wealthy families. According to the NFHS, 25 per cent families didn’t consume milk or curd in the entire week. likewise, 28 per cent didn’t eat fruits the whole week. The data also shows that the consumption of leafy green vegetables is not a daily affair among the rich. The question is: WhyIJ In the Hindi heartland, if a guest was served palak, he curses the host for feeding grass. “Ghas paat khila diya,” he would complain. Carrot and radish are symbols of poor and poverty. “Gajar muli samajh rakha hai,” we are often told.
India’s caste order unleashes taboos on a variety of food sources. There are vegetarians the world over. But they are vegetarians because of taste, because they are animal lovers and because of doctor’s prescription.
Why would Brahmins and Jains not eat non-vegetarian foodIJ Why would they not consume garlic and onions, especially when the former is regarded as a superfoodIJ Isn’t caste, therefore, responsible for malnutrition and anemia among India’s upper castesIJ let’s take Thakurs, who are non-vegetarians. They would eat meat but not intestines. Thakurs would not eat small fish varieties that are good for health. Also, they would not eat the head of a goat.
In war against malnutrition and anaemia, our food taboos have been completely ignored. As a result, even if all Indians are provided with nutritious food, safe drinking water and good hygiene conditions, a large number of Indian children will still be malnourished and good number of men and women anaemic. The NFHS data is a pointer to this phenomenon. According to NFHS-3 data, 54 per cent SC/ST kids are stunted as against 41 per cent among upper castes. Among OBCs, 49 per cent kids are stunted. Sure enough, malnutrition among Dalits is also caused by the caste order.
The NFHS-3 data belongs to the year 2005-06. Since 1990, living conditions of Dalits have improved drastically. No wonder Dalits kids are getting better on all health indices. Access to safe drinking water and better hygiene conditions would improve their condition. Also, because Dalits have no food taboos, they will fare better than others.
What about India’s upper castesIJ It is time they unleashed a series of reform movements within asking people how to keep good health.
There will be a day when hunger will be eliminated. There will be a day when all Indians will get clean drinking water. There will be a day when hygiene standards will be good and all causes of malnutrition will be eliminated. But, food taboos will continue to haunt if upper castes don’t fight them head on.