Nourishment Inequality: Unveiling Socio-Economic Disparities in Dietary Diversity among Indian Men

Harpreet Singh, Banaras HIndu University
RATUL ROYCHOWDHURY, Banaras HIndu University

Dietary Diversity is a growing concern across the states of India. There is scarcity of studies that stressed on diversity of diet in men. Therefore, this study investigates the socioeconomic and spatial disparities in Low Dietary Diversity (LDD) prevalence among men in India collecting data from the 5th round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-21.This study made use of data from the NFHS-5 and a sample of 0.1 million Indian men were taken into account. Bivariate statistics e.g., cross tabulation, Chi-squared test and multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the inequalities in LDD prevalence among men and by their background characteristics. The analysis indicated significant socio-economic variations in LDD among men. Indian men of age group (45-54) (OR: 1.10, 95% CI, 0.99-1.22); Men who belong to the rural household of India (OR: 1.11, 95% CI, 1.02-1.21);men from Northern region (OR: 10.57; CI: 8.78- 12.72) and men who received no formal were more likely to have LDD. However, men with higher education (OR: 0.77; CI: 0.68- 0.86), “Others” category men (OR: 1.18, 95% CI, 1.07-1.29), and men from Southern region were less likely to have LDD.

Keywords: Gender Dynamics, Spatial Demography, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Big data

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