Report On The International Conference
Food,
Health And Mental Health In Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Policies And Practices
The
French Institute of Pondicherry
1-3 March 2012
BALM,
Chennai And FIP, Pondicherry
With the support of
Navajbai
Ratan Tata Trust, AUF and CNRS
FIP BALM/The Banyan
FORWARD
The
aim of the conference has been to encourage reflections on food, physical and
mental health and the interrelationship between them. These subjects were
mainly addressed with reference to low income populations in India . The presence of some
participants from Morocco , Niger and France enabled to enrich debates,
notably on particular aspects such as history of food security or cultural
dimensions of food and health. Obviously, such a conference cannot solve the
immense issues of access to food and health to which the world has to face, but
by the variety of topics, it has aimed to improve the understanding of the
problems and to develop more coordinated responses.
The
conference has been possible thanks to the joint efforts of the BALM (The
Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health), the research and training
center of the NGO The Banyan, Chennai, involved in the mental health care of
homeless women, and of the FIP (French Institute of Pondicherry), a research
institution under the aegis of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which
carries out research in indology, social sciences and ecology, and the
financial support of Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust, the French Institute of
Pondicherry, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and the Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). The conference has also welcomed
two participants from Niger
and Morocco who are involved
with the FIP in the UNESCO Chair entitled ‘The
safeguarding and enhancement of food culture and heritage’ brought and managed
by the University François Rabelais, Tours .
The study presented by Ajeet
Jaiswal “Study
on the intake and expenditure of calories among the manufacturing worker” has been realized in Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh. This North State
is very populated and not so well developed with a rate of literacy of 57.37%.
In Varanasi
district, the percentage of workers is 28.5% of the total population, among
them 29.8 % belong to rural area and 26.7% belongs to urban one (Census of
India 2001). The other workers are engaged in agriculture, mining and business.
The objective of the study has been to assess and to compare the nutritional
status between textile workers and non textile workers. 463 persons working at
different sectors in twenty-one textile factories and 457 non textile workers
have been surveyed regarding their body measurements and dietary intake[1]
(data are presented below). Regarding the body measurements, Ajeet Jaiswal’s study reveals that the
weight of textile workers is lower than that of non textile worker. Body Mass
Index lower than 18.5 is more frequent in textile workers (30.95% versus
25.99%) while overweight and obesity cases are less in this group, respectively
(5.01% versus 10.21%) and (0.66% versus 4.25%). These findings are correlated
with the difference of consumption between the two worker groups. The textile
workers consumption in all the food categories is lower than that of the RDA,
that of women being worse than that of men who eat much more micronutrient-rich
food such as pulses, fruits, dairy products and vegetables. The data also
inform that the staple food of these
workers is finger millet or rice; that the majority of them does not have three meals
a day regularly, and the consumption of non vegetarian food is irregular (once
to three times per weeks). Ajeet Jaiswal
states that the deficiency in nutrient intake of textile workers is due to
their insufficient wages and their ignorance on nutritional status of food. In conclusion, he
proposes that the incomes of these workers are enhanced, that the educational
standard is uplifted, that the education includes awareness on food and
nutrition and that poor economic households are more helped in order they
benefit from a balanced diet. One expects that this study, which has been
published, will be read by policy makers of Uttar Pradesh, a state well known
for its poverty and low standards of governance .
[1] Standardized
according to: Gopalan,
G., Ramasastri B.V. and Balasubramanian ,
S.C. (2007). Nutritive value of Indian foods. Revised and Updated by B.S. Narasinga
Rao, Y.G. Deosthale and K.C. Pant Hyderabad, National Institute of Nutrition,
ICMR (1st publication 1971).