ABSTRACT
Health in India involves the interplay of socio-economic and cultural factors. Several studies have attempted to define the role of food avoidance in health and disease in India. Various cultural patterns in different parts of India are, to a considerable extent, region specific and result in the occurrence of different types of diseases. Although the problems associated with the unhygienic environments of the fairs and melas have been solved in large part, the task of raising the standards of the average village in India is of much larger magnitude. In Indian culture the performance of ritual is connected with religious beliefs about the relationship of human beings to the supernatural forces in the Universe. Closely connected to ritual practices are a series of widely held beliefs, customs, traditions and superstitions, some of which have considerable geographical variation. Apart from dietetic variations among Hindus and Muslims, certain other cultural rituals affect health and disease.
