71% Indians cannot afford a healthy meal: CSE Report

NEW DELHI: The Centre for Science and Environment and magazine released a report titled “State of India’s Environment 2022: In Figures”. It stated that 71 per cent of Indians cannot afford a healthy meal and that over 17 lakh individuals die in the nation every year due to diseases owing to poor diet. Moreover, globally, around 42 per cent of the world’s population cannot afford a healthy diet, said the report.

According to the report, the diet of an average Indian does not contain enough fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains. Poor dietary habits can result in respiratory ailments, Cancer, Diabetes, Strokes and coronary heart diseases. It also mentioned how the consumer food price index inflation has witnessed a 327 per cent increase in the past year. The consumer price index, also known as retail inflation of India, had hit an eight-year high of 7.79 per cent in April this year. Richard Mahapatra, Managing Editor, Down To Earth, commented that food seems to be the biggest mover of CPI inflation. He added that the current high levels of food inflation have been driven by the rising cost of production, extreme weather related disruptions, and surging international crop prices. The report established that the diets of Indian citizens are not getting healthier and that unacceptable levels of malnutrition is persisting in the country. It said that the global food system in fact, falls far short of achieving global goals for both health and the environment.