Number theory: Share of meat eaters in India grew since 2015-16
From the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh in September 2015 to debates on providing eggs in mid-day meals in schools to municipalities ordering that meat shops be shut during Hindu religious festivals, meat eating has consistently courted political controversy.
From the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh in September 2015 to debates on providing eggs in mid-day meals in schools to municipalities ordering that meat shops be shut during Hindu religious festivals, meat eating has consistently courted political controversy. However, if data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – it was carried out between 2019 and 2021 – is to be believed, none of this has reduced the preference for meat in Indian diets. In fact, a comparison with NFHS-4 (2015-16) numbers shows that the share of people who eat meat has actually increased. To be sure, NFHS data also has other interesting details about food habits of Indians. Here are four charts which summarise some of the important findings.
Share of meat eaters has increased between 2015-16 and 2019-21
NFHS checks on the consumption of a food item by frequency (daily, weekly, occasionally, never), and across men and women. A comparison of these responses between the fourth and fifth round of NFHS shows that the share of men and women who reported not eating chicken or meat at all has gone down during this period. What is even more interesting is the fact the share of non-meat eaters has fallen across all religions. This is keeping with the classic economic belief of protein consumption increasing with national income.
However, daily diets for majority of Indians are still quite poor
While NFHS data offers interesting insights on food habits of Indians, it tells us little about the nutritional adequacy of people’s diets. This is because unlike the NSS surveys on consumption, there is no information on quantity of various food items consumed, which if available, can be used to make nutritional intake calculations. What NFHS data does tell us is that daily diets of majority of Indians are still far from what would qualify as a balanced diet. For example, more than half of Indian men did not report consuming milk or pulses on a daily basis. The share of men consuming green vegetables daily was just above the halfway mark. The share of men consuming meat, fish and eggs on a daily basis is very small. But these numbers have shown improvements in comparison to NFHS-4.
Gender gap in food intake seems to have worsened for some items
NFHS data confirms anecdotal accounts of men being preferred over women in access to expensive but more nutritional food items such as milk. The gender gap in milk consumption is the highest for the richest quintile, and it decreases as we go down the wealth distribution till the penultimate (second) quintile.
This should be a cause for alarm when read with malnourishment indicators among Indian adults
Lack of nutritional diets on a daily basis and gender discrimination in intake of items such as milk is disturbing when read with the nutritional outcomes of adults. More than half the Indian women and one-fourth of the Indian men are anaemic, shows NFHS-5. Both these numbers have increased in comparison to the fourth round of NFHS. In states such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura and West Bengal, this number is higher than 60% among Indian women.
Did the pandemic impact food consumption?
This is an important question, considering the fact that food spending has a share of at least 50% for more than half of Indian households. Because NFHS does not collect information on quantity of or spending on a particular food item, it is no substitute for a Consumption Expenditure Survey which will answer this question. However, NFHS can give a rough idea about the pandemic’s impact on the quality of diets. Here is how.
The NFHS-5 was conducted in two phases. The first round was conducted from June 2019 to March 2020 and included 22 states and union territories (UTs). The second round, which includes the remaining 14 states and UTs, was conducted between September 2020 and April 2021, which is the period after the 68-day-long nation-wide lockdown which was imposed on March 25, 2020.
A comparison of state-wise changes in frequency of various kinds of food items can give some idea about the pandemic’s impact on food consumption. If the states surveyed post-pandemic show a deterioration in quality of diets, then it can be inferred as a sign on drop in incomes.
The answer to this question is not conclusive enough. The drop in daily consumption of milk and pulses is more widespread in stated covered in the pre-pandemic period. While more than half of the states covered pre-pandemic witnessed a fall in the daily consumption of both milk or curd and pulses, only five of those covered post-pandemic reported such a decline, in comparison to the fourth round of NFHS. At the same time, nine and eight of the states covered pre-pandemic reported a drop in the daily consumption of meat and fruits, respectively.
The answer to this question is not conclusive enough. The drop in daily consumption of milk and pulses is more widespread in stated covered in the pre-pandemic period. While more than half of the states covered pre-pandemic witnessed a fall in the daily consumption of both milk or curd and pulses, only five of those covered post-pandemic reported such a decline, in comparison to the fourth round of NFHS. At the same time, nine and eight of the states covered pre-pandemic reported a drop in the daily consumption of meat and fruits, respectively.
This is the second of a five-part data journalism series based on NFHS data. The first part looked at the question of asset inequality in India. The third part will look at the fertility in India.
