New Healthway, a book on hygiene and health aimed at 11 and 12 year-olds, is printed by one of India's leading publishers.
Academics have urged the government to exercise greater control.
But the authorities say schools should monitor content as they are responsible for the choice of textbooks.
"This is poisonous for children," Janaki Rajan of the Faculty of Education at Jamia Millia University in Delhi told the BBC.
"The government has the power to take action, but they are washing their hands of it," she said.
It is not known which Indian schools have bought the book for their students, but correspondents say what is worrying is that such a book is available to students.
"The strongest argument that meat is not essential food is the fact that the Creator of this Universe did not include meat in the original diet for Adam and Eve. He gave them fruits, nuts and vegetables," reads a chapter entitled Do We Need Flesh Food?
The chapter details the "benefits" of a vegetarian diet and goes on to list "some of the characteristics" found among non-vegetarians.
"They easily cheat, tell lies, forget promises, they are dishonest and tell bad words, steal, fight and turn to violence and commit sex crimes," it says.
The chapter, full of factual inaccuracies, refers to Eskimos (Inuit) as "lazy, sluggish and short-lived", because they live on "a diet largely of meat".
It adds: "The Arabs who helped in constructing the Suez Canal lived on wheat and dates and were superior to the beef-fed Englishmen engaged in the same work."
The publishers, S Chand, did not respond to the BBC's requests for a comment.

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7 April 2015 Last updated at 08:39 BST
Labour needs a swing of 3.9% to oust the Conservative candidate in the west London constituency.
Some residents are concerned that local services cannot support the extra residents that house building will attract.
BBC London's Victoria Hollins reports.
The known candidates for the 2015 General Election for Ealing Central and Acton are:
Angie Bray Conservative Party, Jon Ball Liberal Democrats, Peter Florence UK Independence Party, Rupa Huq Labour Party, Tom Sharman Green Party

Police said the 29-year-old man was attacked at the Gorbals venue's Island Bar at about 01:30.
He was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital but was released after treatment.
His attacker was white, in his late teens to early 20s, between 5ft 7in and 6ft tall, with short, dark hair. He was wearing a white polo shirt and light-coloured knee-length shorts.
Det Con Lee-Anne Miller, of Police Scotland, said: "The injured man was standing in the bar area when he became involved in an altercation with the suspect which then led to a fight in which he was stabbed.
"Thankfully no-one else was injured but with the number of people about, this could have escalated quite easily.
"We are working with staff from the venue, who quickly stepped in to stop the fight, and we are checking CCTV inside the premises to identify the person responsible for the attack."
She added: "The gig was packed at the time of the assault and a number of people have been spoken to regarding what they saw, however, I am still keen that anyone who witnessed the incident contact police."
Meat-eaters "easily cheat, lie, forget promises and commit sex crimes", according to a controversial school textbook available in India.
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Ealing Central and Acton is one of about 20 seats that could shape the outcome of the election.
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A man has been stabbed in a bar at the 02 Academy in Glasgow.