55.6 per cent Indians unable to afford a healthy diet: SOFI Report

More than half of India’s total population (55.6 per cent) is unable to afford a healthy diet, according to the United Nations’ State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published on July 24, 2024.

Although this proportion has seen a continuous decline (except in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic stuck), it was still higher than the average (53.1 per cent) of all south Asian countries and the second highest percentage of population in the region, after Pakistan (58.7 per cent) in 2022. Figures for Afghanistan were not available in the report.

In 2017, the proportion of the population not being able to afford a healthy diet in India was 69.5 per cent.

The report, published by five UN agencies, described a ‘healthy diet’ as comprising four key aspects: diversity (within and across food groups), adequacy (sufficiency of all essential nutrients compared to requirements), moderation (foods and nutrients that are related to poor health outcomes) and balance (energy and macronutrient intake).

The Indian numbers correlate with public spending on food security and nutrition in India—83 per cent of this spending is allocated towards food consumption (which includes food availability and access) and just 15 per cent on major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition.

In May this year, another global report had raised concerns about dietary habits in India, highlighting a significant increase in the consumption of unhealthy foods compared to nutritious options.

The Global food policy report 2024: Food systems for healthy diets and nutrition had found that at least 38 per cent of the Indian population ate unhealthy foods, while only 28 per cent ate all five recommended food groups, which include at least one starchy staple food, one vegetable, one fruit, one pulse, nut or seed and one animal-source food.

Globally, 35.4 per cent people were unable to afford a healthy diet; 64.8 per cent of these were in Africa and 35.1 per cent in Asia.

Undernourished Indians

India had 194.6 million undernourished people between 2021 and 2023. This was 13.7 per cent of the total population.

‘Undernourishment’ means that a person is not able to acquire enough food to meet the daily minimum dietary energy requirements over a period of one year, as per the Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO’s definition.

The number of children (under five years) affected by ‘wasting’ was 21.9 million (18.7 per cent); and 36.1 million (31.7 per cent) children were stunted in 2022.

The FAO describes wasting as ‘low weight-for-height’, a lethal form of malnutrition, whereas stunting is described as ‘low height-for-age’ and is the result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition.

Overall, Asia had the highest wasting levels among children under five.