The Demographic Diversity of Food Intake and Prevalence of Kidney Stone Diseases in the Indian Continent

Abstract

Food intake plays a pivotal role in human growth, constituting 45% of the global economy and wellbeing in general. The consumption of a balanced diet is essential for overall good health, and a lack of equilibrium can lead to malnutrition, prenatal death, obesity, osteoporosis and bone fractures, coronary heart diseases (CHD), idiopathic hypercalciuria, diabetes, and many other conditions. CHD, osteoporosis, malnutrition, and obesity are extensively discussed in the literature, although there are fragmented findings in the realm of kidney stone diseases (KSD) and their correlation with food intake. KSD associated with hematuria and renal failure poses an increasing threat to healthcare infrastructures and the global economy, and its emergence in the Indian population is being linked to multi-factorial urological disorder resulting from several factors. In this realm, epidemiological, biochemical, and macroeconomic situations have been the focus of research, even though food intake is also of paramount importance. Hence, in this article, we review the corollary associations with the consumption of diverse foods and the role that these play in KSD in an Indian context.

Keywords: food diversity; food intake; kidney stone disease; social epidemiology.

Figure 1

Stone belt Area: (A) Major kidney stone prevalent states in the Indian continent. (B) Animal protein consumption per gram per day per capita in stone belt Indian states, which leads to KSD (* Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation 2012). (C) Non-stone belt Indian states are also depicted with the rural and urban population and the animal protein consumption per gram per day per capita. (D) Prevalence rates of kidney stones in a global platform, for comparison.

Figure 1

Stone belt Area: (A) Major kidney stone prevalent states in the Indian continent. (B) Animal protein consumption per gram per day per capita in stone belt Indian states, which leads to KSD (* Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation 2012). (C) Non-stone belt Indian states are also depicted with the rural and urban population and the animal protein consumption per gram per day per capita. (D) Prevalence rates of kidney stones in a global platform, for comparison.

Figure 2

Calcium stone formation with food habits: (A) Calcium oxalate stone formation, and (B) calcium phosphate stone aggregation.

Figure 3

Uric acid stone formation with food habits.

Figure 4

Cystine stone formation with food habits.

Figure 5

Diagrammatic representation of a causal conceptual model in the Indian scenario. An example where societal factors, such as economy, political view, and education, affect the health and wellbeing of the poorer class of the Indian population.