56% of Indian families report digestive health issues: Study

Around 56 per cent of Indian families have reported Digestive Health issues, said a latest survey report.

According to the study entitled 'A Survey on Digestive Health' of Indian families', conducted by ITC's Aashirvaad Atta with Multigrains 77 per cent of Indian mothers consider digestive health to be extremely important.

The study survey was carried out amongst 538 mothers, aged 25-45 years across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

This sample constituted working mothers, including businesswomen, entrepreneurs, those employed, and home-makers alike.

The value-added atta variant's survey results revealed consumers' lifestyles and eating habits.

As per the survey, 56 per cent of mothers think their families suffer from digestive health issues.

The study found that more than 50 per cent Indian families report suffering from 2-3 digestive health issues.

The study survey was carried out amongst 538 mothers, aged 25-45 years across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Gas, acidity, and indigestion were found to be amongst the top 3 issues as more than 50 per cent respondents reported suffering from atleast one of these three.

More than 50 per cent think that digestive health has an impact on weight management, energy levels, and the experience leads to abnormal bowel movement amongst others.

Forty per cent consider their family and their own gut health as 'Poor' while husband followed by in-laws/parents and self as most affected, respectively.

Factors that contribute to gut health include lifestyle and dietary choices.

Irregular sleep cycle, consumption of spicy, oily, or fried food, low water intake and 1.5 times/week being the average frequency of physical exercise amongst others were reported as common lifestyle patterns.

More than 70 per cent highlighted that they resorted to home remedies and improving daily eating habits as a measure to tackle digestive health issues.

Enriching one's diet with fibre rich food such as wheat-based products, cereals, fruits, leafy vegetables, etc. can aid digestion and it can also relieve bowel issues, provide energy and promote a sense of satiety, thereby enabling weight management.