SEVENTY-ONE per cent Indians cannot afford a healthy diet and 1.7 million die every year due to diseases attributable to poor diet, according to a report released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down to Earth magazine. The diseases attributable to dietary risk factors include respiratory ailments, diabetes, cancer, strokes and coronary heart disease, the report ‘State of India’s Environment 2022: In Figures’ said.

The report refers to diets low in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and diets high in processed meat, red meat, and sugary drinks.

“Seventy-one percent of Indians cannot afford a healthy diet. The global average is 42 percent,” it said citing the Global Nutrition

Report, 2021.

The diet of an average Indian lacks in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains. The consumption of fish, dairy and red meat is within target, it said.

A healthy diet is considered unaffordable when its cost exceeds 63 percent of a person’s income, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation. In India, adults aged 20 and above have only 35.8g of fruit per day as against the recommended 200g per day and just 168.7g of vegetables per day as against the minimum 300g per day.