youth-survey

Updated: Oct 11, 2017 10:40 IST

Hold on to your joggers and dumbbells. Hyderabad is the fittest city in India, reveals the India Youth Survey, with 49% of respondents saying they exercise regularly. Ahmedabad, 44.6%, and Mumbai, 37.5%, are second and third.

Kochi citizens are well informed about the benefits of food varieties.

Patna seems to be the least active city, with only 3.3% doing some sort of physical activity. The benefits of healthy food habits seem lost on youngsters from Bhubaneswar, with just 6.7% and 15.7% saying they eat salads and fruits.

When asked if they are aware of the benefits of a fibre-rich and gluten-free diet, a large percentage of respondents from Kochi says yes. Awareness of foods with fibre, gluten and unsaturated fat content is the lowest in the Odisha capital compared to other cities.

A fibre-rich diet can help normalize bowel movements and a diet of unsaturated fat can keep the bad cholesterol away.

Probiotic foods are important too, say 80% of youth from the Kerala city. Bengaluru has 56.3% respondents giving the thumbs up to organic food.

“I have heard of a brand of probiotic, that’s all. I don’t really know what it is. I just know it helps in digestion,” says Meenakshi Ruhela, a student in New Delhi.

Probiotics are foods with live microorganisms thought to be good for the gut. And, you do not need to buy particular products to get a dose of these good bacteria – yogurt is one of the best probiotic.

Food consumption patterns vary too across cities, with 79.6% respondents from Chennai saying they consume fruits regularly and 77.9% from Indore making sure they include salads in their diet.

“When I am in college, I usually cannot keep a track of what I am eating. And no matter how much I try to avoid junk food, I end up eating some with friends. However, one good habit that my paying guest facility has inculcated is having salads every day,” says Amisha Verma, a history student in New Delhi.

When it comes to monitoring their diet, Mumbai takes the lead, with 50% keeping an eye on what they eat, followed by Kolkata at 43.4% and Hyderabad at 43.3%. Patna lags behind again, with only 6.7% of the people watching what they eat.

Hyderabad has the sweetest tooth with 60% respondents in the city saying they eat chocolates. Youngsters from Ahmedabad, 48.9%, and Lucknow, 38.3%, find chocolate irresistible too.

Despite India’s recent push for yoga, it does not have many takers with 80% saying they do not follow India’s ancient exercise and meditation discipline. Bengaluru had the maximum number of yoga practitioners at 33%, followed by Kolkata and Lucknow at 30.9% and 26.7%.

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Survey Methodology: India Youth Survey 2017 was carried out by MaRS Monitoring and Research Systems in 16 state capitals and major towns in India- Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Chandigarh in the north, Kolkata, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Ranchi in the East, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Indore in the West, and Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi in the South.

Target respondents were both male and female from age groups 18-21 years and 22-25 years, belonging to households with durable ownership of CTV, Refrigerator and at least two of: Car, Two Wheeler, Home computer/laptop, Air Conditioner and Washing machine. The respondent was either currently a student of undergraduate or above or employed with education graduate or above. Additionally the respondent was a regular user of internet on the smart phone and member of a social networking site. Total sample size was 5700, equally divided among men and women and the two age groups. Survey was carried out from July 10 to July 31, 2017