Nutritional intake grows in India’

However, the data says the implications are unclear

Per capita calorie intake in India grew marginally for the first time in 30 years, new official data shows, and protein intake grew for the first time in over a decade.

The National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) 2011-12 data on Nutritional Intake was released earlier this week. The data shows that per capita calorie consumption rose to 2099 kilocalories per day in rural areas and 2058 kilocalories per day in urban areas. Both numbers are still below a Planning Commission benchmark of 2,400 kilocalories per day.

But the proportion of acutely under-nourished people seems to be declining; the proportion of Indians who get less than 80 per cent of the recommended nutritional intake has declined to under one in five in rural areas.

The implications of this change are, however, unclear. For one, India’s most developed states have the lowest average calorie consumption, pointing to the fact that higher calorie intake may not be a direct predictor of well-being. While Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra saw slight increases in their per capita calorie consumption between 2009-10 and 2011-12, the number fell in rural Gujarat.

Karnataka’s per capita income is nearly twice that of Jharkhand, but both have nearly the same average calorie consumption in rural areas. Calorie consumption does rise steadily with family incomes, however, in both rural and urban India. The top five per cent of rural Indians consume double the calories as the bottom five per cent.

Several experts The Hindu spoke to were unwilling to comment on the new data, because the implications of calorie consumption has been fiercely disputed by economists over the last few years.

Economists Angus Deaton and Jean Dreze noted in a 2009 Economic and Political Weekly article that calorie intake had declined in a period of rising incomes, and a possible explanation could be lower levels of physical activity.

These possible explanations apart, the Indian population undoubtedly suffered from severe nutritional deficits, they said, of this “puzzle”.

The share of cereals in total calorie intake has steadily declined, the data shows, and is down to just over 60 per cent in rural Indian and 50 per cent in rural India. The share of meats and dairy has grown only slightly, while the share of oils and fats has grown sharply.

While protein intake has grown on average, there are mixed trends among States. Protein intake fell in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, but rose in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.