Are unhealthy diets fuelled by the great Green Revolution?

New Delhi: A recent study suggesting that the poor are increasingly falling prey to diabetes is alarming since it is this class of people who cannot afford quality treatment and really depend on public distribution system through ration shops. With the ration shops mostly distributing rice and wheat, these high carbohydrate cereals are propelling a new and very worrying wave of diabetes in the country.

The Indian Council of Medical Research – India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study is the largest nationally representative study of diabetes in India and includes data from 57,000 people across 15 states.

The changing lifestyle of Indians is making them move away from traditional healthy foods as Anjana says “the availability, accessibility and affordability of junk food is the biggest problem for India”.

Fortunately, Anjana says, all of this can be reversed with the right kind of awareness and by making fruits, vegetables and healthy cereals all being made available in ration shops.