Environmental implications and socioeconomic characterisation of Indian diets

Aug 14, 2020The Science of the total environment

Environmental Impact and Social-Economic Features of Indian Diets

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Abstract

Indian diets exhibit calorie intake ranging from 2289 to 3218 kcal/Consumer Unit (CU)/day.

Eleven distinct dietary patterns were identified using cluster analysis of household consumer expenditure data.
Estimated greenhouse gas emissions from these diets range from 1.36 to 3.62 kg CO/CU/day.
The land footprint of these diets varies between 4 and 5.45 m/CU/day.
Water usage associated with the diets ranges from 2.13 to 2.97 m/CU/day.
Many diets deviate from healthy standards, with high intake of cereals, sugar, and dairy, but low consumption of fruits, vegetables, pulses, and nuts.

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India is facing a double burden of malnourishment with co-existences of under- and over-nourishment. Various socioeconomic factors play an essential role in determining dietary choices. Agriculture is one of the major emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in India, contributing 18% of total emissions. It also consumes freshwater and uses land significantly. We identify eleven Indian diets by applying k-means cluster analysis on latest data from the Indian household consumer expenditure survey. The diets vary in calorie intake [2289-3218 kcal/Consumer Unit (CU)/day] and dietary composition. Estimated embodied GHG emissions in the diets range from 1.36 to 3.62 kg CO/CU/day, land footprint from 4 to 5.45 m/CU/day, whereas water footprint varies from 2.13 to 2.97 m/CU/day. Indian diets deviate from a healthy reference diet either with too much or too little consumption of certain food groups. Overall, cereals, sugar, and dairy products intake are higher. In contrast, the consumption of fruits and vegetables, pulses, and nuts is lower than recommended. Our study contributes to deriving required polices for the sustainable transformation of food systems in India to eliminate malnourishment and to reduce the environmental implications of the food systems. 2eq. 2 3

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Environmental implications and socioeconomic characterisation of Indian diets

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