Looking Past the Indian Calorie Debate: What is Happening to Nutrition Transition in India

Abstract

We utilise large national household datasets for 1993–1994, 2004–2005 and 2011–2012 to analyse factors influencing changing patterns in per capita calorie consumption in India. Our study findings demonstrate the significance of the disease environment in which people live, with those living in healthy areas having lower calorie consumption than those living in less healthy ones. Calorie intake has been falling in India, but the study findings reveal that fat calorie intake has been rising successively over time among the rural and poorer urban sub-populations raising concerns for policy-makers that non-communicable diseases are expected to rise for these vulnerable population groups.