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The study examines food and tobacco consumption pattern and dietary related health issues among urban households in Aizawl, the state capital of Mizoram in North East India. Almost all the household consume rice and dal on a daily basis. It was also observed that meat products such as chicken, pork and beef accounted almost half of the total food budget of the household. Fermented foods were consumed by a number of households but not in large quantities. Processed food items were observed to be consumed by younger members of the family. For more than half of the households, eggs were seen to be a daily component of meal. Chicken and pork were consumed on a weekly basis by more than half the sample households. Beef consumption was comparatively lower than chicken or pork. Vegetable consumption rate among the urban household was also very high. Potatoes were also consumed frequently with 61.8 % consuming it on a daily basis. It was quite interesting to note that household with children tend to consume more potatoes and eggs than household without any children. Consumption of fruits was considerably lower compared to vegetables or potatoes. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus type II diseases were seen to be the most common among the sampled urban households in Aizawl. These diseases are closely related with high consumption of meats and other oily foods. Due to rapid improvement in economic condition among urban households in Mizoram, meat items are being consumed in large amount by these families.
Keywords: Food security, food consumption pattern, tobacco consumption and health
