Abstract
Background/objectives
Fruits and vegetables are integral parts of a healthy diet. This study evaluated the quantity and diversity of the fruit and vegetable intake in India, with a focus on its distribution across sectors and wealth quintiles.
Subjects/methods
A secondary data analysis on the nation-wide NSSO Household Consumer Expenditure Survey 2011–2012 was performed to estimate the amount (g/capita/day) and diversity of household intake of fruits and vegetables in the rural and the urban sectors of India. Using the expenditure data, households in both the sectors were further divided into wealth quintiles and differences in the diversity of intake was evaluated across these quintiles separately for each sector.
Results
The per capita household vegetable and fruit intake was found to be 145 and 15 g, respectively, for rural India, and 155 and 29 g for urban India. A significant portion of this intake came from energy-dense food items; potatoes and bananas for vegetable and fruit intake respectively. Further, while wealth marginally improved the diversity in vegetable intake, no such trend was observed in fruit intake.
Conclusions
Given the high proportion of energy-dense fruits and vegetables in the Indian total intake, the focus should be on improving the diversity of vegetables, as well as on increasing the intake and diversity of fruits.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
WHO. Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 2003;916:i-viii-1-149, backcover.
Liu S, Manson JE, Lee IM, Cole SR, Hennekens CH, Willett WC, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of cardiovascular disease: the Women’s Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72:922–8.
Department of Women and Child Development. India nutrition profile. New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India; 1998.
Sachdeva S, Sachdev TR, Sachdeva R. Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption: challenges and opportunities. Indian J Community Med. 2013;38:192–7.
National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). Household Consumer Expenditure, NSS 68th Round Sch1.0 Type 1: July 2011—June 2012. National Sample Survey Office, NSSO- Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India. 2013.
Government of India (GOI). Agricultural statistics at a glance 2015. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. 2016. Available at: http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/PDF/Agricultural_Statistics_At_Glance-2015.pdf.
Archer E, Pavela G, Lavie CJ. The inadmissibility of what we eat in America and NHANES dietary data in nutrition and obesity research and the scientific formulation of national dietary guidelines. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015;90:911–26.
National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB). Diet and nutritional status of population and Prevalence of Hypertension & Diabetes among Adults and Infant & Young Child Feeding Practices. NNMB Technical Report No. 26. National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. 2012.
Hall JN, Moore S, Harper SB, Lynch JW. Global variability in fruit and vegetable consumption. Am J Prev Med. 2009;36:402–9.
World Health Organization (WHO). Fruit and vegetables for health: report of a Joint FAO/WHO Workshop. Kobe, Japan: WHO; 2004. p. 1–3. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43143/1/9241592818_eng.pdf?ua=1&ua=1.
Tohill BC Dietary intake of fruit and vegetables and management of body weight. Background paper for Joint FAO/WHO Workshop on Fruits and Vegetables for Health. 2004. Available at: http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/f&v_weight_management.pdf?ua = 1.
Khandelwal S, Verma G, Thow AM, Shaikh NI, Siegel KR, Soni D, et al. Leveraging Fruit and Vegetable (FV) supply policies to tackle dual burden of malnutrition in India: Policy mapping study- Short report. Public health Foundation of India, New Delhi, Nov 2014–Dec 2016.
Siegel KR, Shaikh NI, Thow AM, Soni D, Soni D, Verma G, et al. Leveraging Fruit and Vegetable (FV) supply policies to tackle dual burden of malnutrition in India: Evidence review of factors associated with fruit and vegetable intake among children and adolescents in low and middle-income countries- Short report. Public health Foundation of India, New Delhi, Nov 2014–Dec 2016.
Thow AM, Verma G, Soni D, Soni D, Beri D, Kumar Poorvaja, et al. Leveraging Fruit and Vegetable (FV) supply policies to tackle dual burden of malnutrition in India: Qualitative Policy Analysis- Short report. Public health Foundation of India, New Delhi, Nov 2014–Dec 2016.
Wang X, Ouyang Y, Liu J, Zhu M, Zhao G, Bao W, et al. Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Br Med J. 2014;349:g4490.
Oyebode O, Gordon-Dseagu V, Walker A, Mindell JS. Fruit and vegetable consumption and all-cause, cancer and CVD mortality: analysis of Health Survey for England data. J Epidemiol Community Heal. 2014;68:856–62.
NY Daily News. Available at: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/tomato-sauce-pizza-vegetable-congress-gop-healthier-school-lunches-expensive-article-1.978339 (Accessed 5 Jan 2017).
Ridker PM, Manson JE, Buring JE, Shih J, Matias M, Hennekens CH. Homocysteine and risk of cardiovascular disease among postmenopausal women. JAMA. 1999;281:1817–21.
Neuman M, Finlay JE, Smith GD, Subramanian SV. The poor stay thinner: Stable socioeconomic gradients in BMI among women in lower- and middle-income countries. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;94:1348–57.
Razak F, Corsi DJ, Slutsky AS, Kurpad A, Berkman L, Laupacis A, et al. Prevalence of body mass index lower than 16 among women in low- and middle-income countries. JAMA. 2015;314:2164–71.
Varadharajan KS, Thomas T, Kurpad AV. Poverty and the state of nutrition in India. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2013;22:326–39.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Minocha, S., Thomas, T. & Kurpad, A.V. Are ‘fruits and vegetables’ intake really what they seem in India?. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 603–608 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0094-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0094-1
This article is cited by
-
Heterogeneity of Dietary practices in India: current status and implications for the prevention and control of type 2 diabetes
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2023)
-
Understanding household and food system determinants of chicken and egg consumption in India
Food Security (2023)
-
Yoga Programme for Type 2 Diabetes Prevention (YOGA-DP) Among High-Risk People in India: A Multicenter Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial
Diabetes Therapy (2023)
-
Urban environment as an independent predictor of insulin resistance in a South Asian population
International Journal of Health Geographics (2019)