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Diet Diversification and Diet Quality in India: An Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Raghav Gaiha

    (Department of Urban Studies and Regional Planning, MIT, Cambridge, U.S.A.)

  • Nidhi Kaicker

    (School of Business, Public Policy and Social Entrepreneurship, Ambedkar University, India)

  • Katsushi S. Imai

    (Economics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester (UK) and RIEB, Kobe University (Japan))

  • Vani S. Kulkarni

    (Department of Sociology, Yale University, U.S.A.)

  • Ganesh Thapa

    (International Fund for Agricultural Development, Italy)

Abstract

Our study examines changes in diets over the period 1993-2009. Diets have shifted away from cereals towards higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, oils and livestock products. Using household data, a food diversity index (FDI) is constructed, based on five food commodities. Significant price effects that vary over time are confirmed, as also income/expenditure effects. Over and above these effects, more sedentary life styles and less strenuous activity patterns played a significant role in shaping dietary patterns. An important finding is slowing down of dietary transition in the more recent sub-period 2004-09. Clues relate to weakening or strengthening of food price, expenditure and life-style effects over time. Using an instrumented measure of FDI in the second stage, and all other exogenous variables, its effects on nutrients' intakes are analysed. A common finding that food diversity is associated with better quality diet and higher intakes of nutrients is not corroborated. While there is a reduction in calorie intake, there are increases in protein and fat intakes. A case is made for provision of public goods, nutrition labelling, regulation of food standards, consumer awareness of healthy diets, food fortification and supplementation, and active involvement of the private sector in adhering to the regulatory standards and nutritional norms.

Suggested Citation

  • Raghav Gaiha & Nidhi Kaicker & Katsushi S. Imai & Vani S. Kulkarni & Ganesh Thapa, 2012. "Diet Diversification and Diet Quality in India: An Analysis," Discussion Paper Series DP2012-30, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    • Handle: RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2012-30
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rashid, Dewan Arif & Smith, Lisa C. & Rahman, Tauhidur, 2011. "Determinants of Dietary Quality: Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2221-2231.
    2. Raghbendra Jha & Raghav Gaiha & Anurag Sharma, 2009. "Modelling variety in consumption expenditure on food in India," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 503-519.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Ajay Mahal & Lainie Sutton, 2014. "Economic prosperity and non-communicable disease: understanding the linkages," Chapters, in: Raghbendra Jha & Raghav Gaiha & Anil B. Deolalikar (ed.), Handbook on Food, chapter 12, pages 278-324, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Pandey, Vijay Laxmi & Mahendra Dev, S. & Jayachandran, Usha, 2016. "Impact of agricultural interventions on the nutritional status in South Asia: A review," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 28-40.
    4. Singh, K M & Singh, Pushpa, 2018. "Challenges of Ensuring Food and Nutritional Security in Bihar," MPRA Paper 96679, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Nov 2018.
    5. Ogundari, Kolawole, 2013. "Determinants of food-poverty states and the demand for dietary diversity in Nigeria," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161302, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    6. Mousumi Das, 2021. "Vulnerability to Food Insecurity: A Decomposition Exercise for Rural India using the Expected Utility Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 167-199, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty; Nutrition; Diet Diversification; Food Diversity Index (FDI); Price Effect; Income Effect; Calorie; Protein; Fat Intakes; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • C26 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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