Srinagar May 17: Amid the veg-non veg debate, a recent pan-India health survey has revealed that more people are consuming non-veg food in the country than ever before, a report said on Tuesday.
The report in the Indian Express while quoting the recently released data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) -5 conducted in 2019-21, an overwhelming 83.4 per cent of men and 70.6 per cent of women in the 15-49 age group eat non-vegetarian food-fish, chicken and meat-daily, weekly or occasionally. As per NHFS-4, the figures stood at 78.4 per cent for men and 70 per cent for women, in order, the Express report said.
It further said that the proportion of weekly meat eaters too has risen sharply with 57.3 per cent men and 45.1 per cent women reported eating fish, chicken or meat at least once a week during NHFS-5, higher than the figures reported in 2015-16: 48.9 per cent men and 42.8 per cent women.
Among religious groups, Christian men and women accounted for the highest consumption of non-vegetarian food at least once a week – 80 per cent men and 78% for women in the 15-49 age group. The corresponding numbers for other religious groups stood at: Hindu men: 52.5%, women: 40.7%; Muslim men: 79.5%, women: 70.2%; Sikh men: 19.5%, women: 7.9%; Buddhist/Neo-Buddhist men: 74.1%, women: 62.2%; and Jain men 14.9%, women: 4.3%, added the report.