Friday, December 19, 2025 | 10:14 PM ISTहिंदी में पढें
Business Standard
Notification Icon
userprofile IconSearch

Is variety the spice of life?

A key feature of economic and demographic transformation in India in recent decades has been the change in the Indian diet

Affluence is associated to cost of calories: the higher the per capita expenditure, the greater is the cost of calories
premium

Affluence is associated to cost of calories: the higher the per capita expenditure, the greater is the cost of calories

Nidhi KaickerVani S KulkarniRaghav Gaiha
That India ranks 100 in a group of 119 countries in the Global Hunger Index in 2017 is abysmal enough regardless of how steeply it has deteriorated in recent years. The higher the rank, the worse is the state of hunger.
 
A key feature of the economic and demographic transformation in India in recent decades has been the change in the Indian diet — a shift away from cereals towards vanaspati oil, eggs, meat, fish and poultry, fruits and vegetables — but with rural-urban variation.
 
This dietary transition is driven by expansion of the middle class, higher female