India must accept that traditional foods aren't necessarily the safest

By Dr Carrie Ruxton PhD, registered dietitian, Scotland 14-Feb

In the first article in a new a series examining Indian diets and health, a British dietitian urges India not to make the same mistakes that were made in her country, but instead safeguard the health of future generations. 

India is almost unrecognisable today from the country I visited in 1988 when I studied briefly at the Sri Venkateswara University College in Tirupati. 

Then, it was rare to see anyone who was overweight. Back then, cars were not as abundant as they are today, and cheap meals of delicious pulses and chapatti or dosa with potato masala could be purchased in small, noisy restaurants. Garam chai was everywhere, to be savoured in small, clay cups that were then thrown away to become part of the dust once more.

Nowadays, India is a modern, thriving country, although the slums remain as a guilty reminder that the wealth of the twenty-first century has bypassed many in the population. 

Western foods and soft drinks abound, sold in glossy outlets at increasingly affordable prices for the new middle classes. However, the traditional side of Indian dietary culture isn’t far away as evidenced by the views about children’s weight, ghee and other Indian delights expressed by the Diabetes Foundation of India survey . 

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