Dietary Habits of Kidney Stone Patients of Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh, North India Madhvi Awasthi, S. R. Malhotra* and Rajni Modgil Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Home Science, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur 176 062, Himachal Pradesh, India E-mail: s_rekha1@yahoo.co.in KEYWORDS Kidney Stone Patients. Dietary Habits. Salt Consumption. Ground Water ABSTRACT Dietary habits of one hundred and thirty kidney stone patients from various hospitals of Palampur of Kangra District in Himachal Pradesh, North India were studied. Majority of the patients were non-vegetarian (60 per cent) and many of them (40 per cent) were consuming more salted foods. Water consumption amount revealed that majority (59.23 per cent) of the patients were consuming 1000 ml of water per day. Frequency of consumption of foodstuffs revealed that it varied from weekly to rarely for most of the items from various selected categories. INTRODUCTION Among urinary disorders, stone formation is of paramount importance. The incidences of kidney stones are rising in rural and urban soci- eties in India. A large population of the country suffers from kidney stones which are formed due to deposition of calcium, phosphates and ox- alates. The chemicals start accumulating over a nucleus, which ultimately takes the shape of a stone (Misra and Kumar 2000). These stones may persist for indefinite period of time, lead- ing to secondary complications thereby causing serious consequences to patient’s life. Kidney stones are of two types, that is, primary and se- condary stones. The former includes stones of calcium, oxalate, uric acid, cystine and xanthine (Garrow 2000). Calcium oxalate stones are co- mmon clinical problem and population studies indicate that one in thousand suffers from such stones each year. The secondary stones are formed by urea splitting organisms such as Pro- teus, Pseudomonas and Klebsiella species and are known as struvite stones. They are compos- ed of magnesium, ammonium and phosphates (Grasses et al. 2007). The occurrence of renal stone disease is related to food habits of individuals. Dietary factors include a high intake of animal proteins and oxalates and a low intake of potassium containing citrus fruits and fluids (Tur et al. 1991). Inadequate fluid consumption decreases total urinary volume thereby increasing the concen- tration of stone forming salts. Intake of sodium is also associated with increased risk of stone formation presumably because of increased urinary calcium excretion (Carbone et al. 2003). The present study, based on selected kidney stone patients of Kangra District in Himachal Pradesh, North India, is an attempt to study the relationship between dietary habits and incidence of stone formation. METHODOLOGY The study was conducted on a total of 130 kidney stone patients, comprising 78 males and 52 females, selected randomly from various medical institutions such as CSK HPKV Health centre, Civil Hospital Palampur and Karan Hospital, Palampur of Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. A comprehensive and exhaustive questionnaire was formulated specifically keep- ing in mind the objectives of the study. This sample questionnaire was presented to 10 kidney stone patients other than the selected patients and was then evaluated for response of the patients. The necessary improvements / alterations/modifications were incorporated on the basis of collected information, thus making the questionnaire more functional. The data were collected during the months of July-October, 2009. The patients were interviewed to collect information regarding the detailed dietary his- tory with added information about his/her food likes/dislikes, preferences/intolerances (if any), eating habits, general meal pattern and dietary intake. Added information about dietary modifi- cations (if any) in relation to the kidney stone © Kamla-Raj 2011 J Hum Ecol, 34(3): 163-169 (2011)