hyderabad forget the anorexic size zero the average indian woman is healthier than ever before the weight of an average indian woman has gone up by 5 kg over the past 20 years according to the scientists of national institute of nutrition nin interestingly this variation has taken place even when the weight of the average indian man remains at 60 kg reason the nutrition levels of women in the age group of 18 to 29 years have improvedaccording to nin nutritionists the healthy trend among both urban and rural women is essentially because of better living conditions in various communities across the country also the number of women suffering from severe malnutrition has touched a zero currently though malnutrition is present in moderate and mild levels the scientists claimsenior scientists at nin said that the number of women being detected with fatal diseases has also gone down resulting in improvement in the average body mass in the country especially in rural india women have become more healthy due to the reduction in poverty levels in urban area the data we have come across so far is not sufficient enough to draw conclusions about increase in weight dr b sesikeran director national institute of nutrition meanwhile some scientists observed that urban women who fall in lower body weight categories have also shown an increase in their average weightthe figures were arrived at by using the data collected by national nutrition monitoring bureau nnmb from 10 states including andhra pradesh tamil nadu karnataka kerala gujarat west bengal uttar pradesh maharashtra and madhya pradesh by random sampling in each of the states over 10000 women were measured to find the average weightthe change in the weight has also brought out changes in the recommended dietary habits we recommend a lower intake of iron to reduce the absorption of iron a regular intake of vitamin c with every meal is required similar changes in dietary habits will have to be brought about with with reference to the change in the bmi or body mass index said dr k madhavan nair scientist micronutrients nin the new recommendations in dietary habits will be included in dietary guidelines for indians another publication which will be released in the indian council of medical research new delhi within two monthsthe scientists however said that a static body weight for an average man does pose some problems which reveal that the the physical labour put in by the rural and urban poor has been consistent since the weight is also based on mobility the reduction in difference between weight of the average man and woman could be because of the extra level of energy men have to put in opined a scientistsenior scientists however said that the an increase of 5 kg in 20 years is not a clear indication of betterment of nutrient levels in women as there are countries where an increase of 5 kg get was accomplished in five or 10 years the new statistics of