Food consumption pattern and nutrient intake of Indian obese males.

Mean daily intake of all foods except cereals i.e. pulses, green leafy vegetables, roots and tubers, fruits, milk and milk products, sugar and fats of Indian obese male respondents was higher than the values recommended by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR, 1987). The consumption of fat and sugar was 18 and 8 percent more than the recommended intake values respectively. However, their non-obese counterparts consumed significantly (P < 0.05) lower amounts of all the foods except cereals and pulses. The intake of various nutrients i.e. energy, protein, fats, beta-carotene, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vit B12, folacin, ascorbic acid and calcium by obese respondents was considerably higher than the recommended values (ICMR, 1990) and the control group. All the obese respondents were consuming adequate (100% and above) amounts of energy, protein and fats. Intake of carbohydrates was marginally adequate (75-99.9%) among 92 percent of the obese respondents whereas 8 percent were consuming adequate amount of carbohydrates. They had higher consumption of visible as well as invisible fat than the control group.