Geographic variation in lack of food group consumption among children in India - An analysis of change across 720 districts, 2016-2021

Sep 28, 2026

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Adequate dietary intake in early childhood is essential for growth and development. Evidence on geographic disparities and recent trends in food group consumption among young children in India remains limited. This study examines district-level changes in seven food groups consumed by children aged 6–23 months using India’s National Family Health Surveys from 2016 and 2021. Harmonized 720-district geometry and multilevel modeling quantify precision-weighted non-consumption, revealing substantial geographic heterogeneity and persistent within-country inequalities, supporting geographically targeted nutrition interventions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Data sources and methods

Key findings on non-consumption trends

Geographic heterogeneity and implications

OPEN ACCESS Citation: Park D, Kim R, Shin M-J, Saunik S, Subramanian SV (2026) Geographic variation in lack of food group consumption among children in India: An analysis of change across 720 districts, 2016−2021 . PLOS Glob Public Health 6(1): e0005077. [https://doi.org/10.1371/](https://doi.org/10.1371/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.1371/)[journal.pgph.0005077](journal.pgph.0005077) Editor: Nancy Angeline Gnanaselvam, : St John's Medical College, INDIA Received: February 2, 2025 Accepted: November 29, 2025 Published: January 2, 2026 Copyright: © 2026 Park et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data availability statement: The study is based on publicly available data and can be accessed from [https://dhsprogram.com/data/](https://dhsprogram.com/data/)[ ](https://dhsprogram.com/data/)[available-datasets.cfm](available-datasets.cfm. The codes used for)[. The codes used for](available-datasets.cfm. The codes used for)[ ](available-datasets.cfm. The codes used for)statistical analysis are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. RESEARCH ARTICLE Geographic variation in lack of food group consumption among children in India: An analysis of change across 720 districts, 2016−2021 Dahyun Park1, Rockli Kim2,3*, Min-Jeong Shin3,4, Sujata Saunik5, S.V. Subramanian6,7 1 Multidisciplinary Research Center for Public Health in Complex System, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea, 2 Associate Professor, Division of Health Policy and Management, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea, 3 Interdisciplinary Program in Precision Public Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School of Korea University, Seoul, South Korea, 4 Professor, School of Biosystems and Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea, 5 Independent researcher, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, 6 Professor of Population Health and Geography, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, 7 Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America * [rocklikim@korea.ac.kr](rocklikim@korea.ac.kr) Abstract Adequate dietary intake in early childhood is essential for growth and development. However, evidence on geographic disparities and recent trends in food group consumption among young children in India remains limited. This study investigated district-level changes in the consumption of specific food groups among children aged 6–23 months in India. Data from two National Family Health Surveys conducted in 2016 and 2021 of India were used, and a harmonized 720-district geometry was applied to ensure comparability across survey rounds. Multilevel modeling accounting for children nested within communities, districts, and states was used to derive precision-weighted estimates for non-consumption of seven food groups. District-level changes in non-consumption prevalence showed substantial geographic heterogeneity across all food groups. Nationally, non-consumption prevalence declined for most food groups, including other solid, semi-solid, or soft food (−2 .0 percentage points), fruits and vegetables (−2 .3), dairy products (−1 .9), meat/nonvegetarian foods (−1 . 1) . In contrast, non-consumption of grains, roots, and tubers increased (+2 .5) . Substantial geographic heterogeneity was observed. Between 2016 and 2021, 380 districts experienced declines in non-consumption of other solid, semisolid, or soft food and 379 in fruits and vegetables, whereas non-consumption of grains, roots, and tubers increased in 335 districts. District-level inequalities remained wide across all food groups. Geographically targeted nutrition interventio

FAQs

What population and age group does the study analyze?

The study analyzes children aged 6–23 months in India.

Which data sources and survey years are used?

It uses two National Family Health Surveys conducted in 2016 and 2021.

What overall trend is observed in non-consumption between 2016 and 2021?

Nationally, non-consumption prevalence declined for most food groups, while non-consumption of grains, roots, and tubers increased.

Sep 28, 2026

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