Primary Submission Category: Health behaviors
Religious Differences in Meat Consumption in India and Consequences for the Nutrition Transition
Authors: Rachel J Bacon Ahmed Alavi Rashid
Presenting Author: Rachel J Bacon*
Meat consumption in India is expected to increase as part of the “Nutrition Transition”, a process characterized by a shift from malnutrition to excess consumption of foods associated with chronic disease. Dietary restrictions on specific meats is common among different religious groups in India, which may keep overall meat consumption within healthy levels, but variation in meat consumption trajectories by religious group over time is not well documented. It remains unclear the extent that some people groups in India are at greater risk than others of excess meat intake and its health risks.
We compare meat intake by religion using multiple years of survey data: the 1994/2011 Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES), and the 2005/2015/2020 Demographic Health Surveys (DHS). Our regression analyses focus on frequency of meat intake at the individual level in DHS data, and consumption of specific meat categories (chicken, beef/buffalo, pork, and others) at the household level in HCES.
Our results suggest that religious groups in India are at different stages of the Nutrition Transition regarding meat intake. Hindus eat meat less frequently and in smaller amounts than Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists, but are experiencing a similar overall rate of increase in meat intake as their higher-consuming peers, primarily in chicken. Sikhs, however, have slightly lower frequency and consumption of meat than other groups, and are also increasing at a slower rate.
Nationalistic movements may increasingly discourage eating meat other than chicken. Reported household consumption of non-chicken meat is decreasing or stable for all religious groups, possibly due to social desirability bias. Watching TV is associated with higher frequency and greater consumption of chicken and “other meat” for Hindus, Muslims, and Christians, but not Sikhs and Buddhists. Sikh traditions may encourage conformity to local norms and limit influence from global media.