Study Reveals Kashmiri Women Eat Nutritional Food Compared to Indian Women

Ufaq Fatima, Srinagar

According to a research done on the diet of Kashmiri women it has been studied that they have much better nutritional profile compared to Indian women. Figures revealed that the overall percentage of women with body mass index (BMI) below 18.5kg/m2 was 10.9% which is much better than Indian percentage of 35.8.

This research under the title of ‘A Nutritional Profile of Kashmiri Women’, was carried out in a period of two and a half years in which 1600 women between the age group of 16-45 years were selected for the study.

According to this research conducted by Dr Nighat Nasreen, Associate Prof, Food and Nutrition, Home Science, Govt Women’s College, Srinagar, percentage of Kashmiri women who begin their reproductive life with chronic energy deficiency is very less as compared to the rest of India, where a third of women of same age are undernourished with BMI of less than 18.5kg/m2 as reported in the study.

The study also reveals that only a negligible percentage of Kashmiri women are vegetarian and rest are non-vegetarian.  Rice  is universally consumed by women irrespective of their physiological status and 98.3% women eat some green leafy vegetables on daily basis. Roots and tubers are mainly consumed by (81.3%) women on weekly basis and percentage consumption is comparatively better during pregnancy and non-pregnant nonlactating state. Almost half (46.2%) of studied women included meat/poultry consumption (4-5  times/week).

Though the report also suggests that the dietary Iron intake of Kashmiri women is low and during & after reproductive period nutritional status remains more or less stable, yet calorie deficiency was observed in most of the Kashmiri Women of different physiological status.

Source: A Nutritional Profile of Kashmiri Women, Dr Nighat Nasreen, International Journal for Research in Emerging Science and Technology, Vol 4, Issue 2, Feb 2017