Changes in eating habits and food traditions of Indo-Mauritians

Abstract

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" mangal;background:white;mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:hi"="" lang="EN-GB">Over the past two decades, there has been a shift towards consumption of energy-dense, imported processed foods and fast foods accompanied by a neglect of the traditional diets in many developing countries. A neglect of traditional food (TF) systems is related to nutrition transition marked by an increased consumption of unhealthy processed foods and significant lifestyle changes such as inadequate time for meal preparation. This nutrition transition (NT) has also resulted in a rise in diet-related chronic conditions. The current review aims to discuss the importance of TF and diets of Indo-Mauritians who constitute the majority of the general population in Mauritius as well as outline drivers behind the present NT. Understanding the functional properties of traditional foods is important in developing interventions to reduce the rising prevalence of chronic conditions such as obesity in Mauritius. A priority in view of the prevailing chronic disease burden could be to revive the use of neglected TF with high nutritive benefits through local nutrition education programs targeting the general population and in addition, to improve awareness of the high nutritive values of local TF in the education system as well as encouraging food companies to market these foods in an edible manner.</span>