Measuring malnutrition and dietary diversity: theory and evidence from India

Adequate nutrition constitutes one of the most basic dimensions of human well-being. Ample evidence exists for the functional link between a diverse diet and health outcomes or economic performance. However, a concise measure to capture nutritional diversity that utilizes typical household-level dat...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Oldiges, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative 2017
_version_ 1797092292771708928
author Oldiges, C
author_facet Oldiges, C
author_sort Oldiges, C
collection OXFORD
description Adequate nutrition constitutes one of the most basic dimensions of human well-being. Ample evidence exists for the functional link between a diverse diet and health outcomes or economic performance. However, a concise measure to capture nutritional diversity that utilizes typical household-level data, often the only data available in developing countries, is yet to be developed. In this paper, I propose a theoretical framework for such a measure by extending the Alkire-Foster (AF) methodology. The new framework enables the calculation of both the incidence and intensity of nutritional deprivation. Applying this framework, I construct a Nutritional Deprivation Index (NDI) for Indian states using household survey data on food consumption. The NDI is unique, and, compared to existing measures, it is more effective in both identifying the inadequately nourished and revealing the extent of food deprivation.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T03:44:05Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:bedbcd5f-6783-4bff-ad53-e9e69b0927c3
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T03:44:05Z
publishDate 2017
publisher Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:bedbcd5f-6783-4bff-ad53-e9e69b0927c32022-03-27T05:43:05ZMeasuring malnutrition and dietary diversity: theory and evidence from IndiaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:bedbcd5f-6783-4bff-ad53-e9e69b0927c3EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordOxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative2017Oldiges, CAdequate nutrition constitutes one of the most basic dimensions of human well-being. Ample evidence exists for the functional link between a diverse diet and health outcomes or economic performance. However, a concise measure to capture nutritional diversity that utilizes typical household-level data, often the only data available in developing countries, is yet to be developed. In this paper, I propose a theoretical framework for such a measure by extending the Alkire-Foster (AF) methodology. The new framework enables the calculation of both the incidence and intensity of nutritional deprivation. Applying this framework, I construct a Nutritional Deprivation Index (NDI) for Indian states using household survey data on food consumption. The NDI is unique, and, compared to existing measures, it is more effective in both identifying the inadequately nourished and revealing the extent of food deprivation.
spellingShingle Oldiges, C
Measuring malnutrition and dietary diversity: theory and evidence from India
title Measuring malnutrition and dietary diversity: theory and evidence from India
title_full Measuring malnutrition and dietary diversity: theory and evidence from India
title_fullStr Measuring malnutrition and dietary diversity: theory and evidence from India
title_full_unstemmed Measuring malnutrition and dietary diversity: theory and evidence from India
title_short Measuring malnutrition and dietary diversity: theory and evidence from India
title_sort measuring malnutrition and dietary diversity theory and evidence from india
work_keys_str_mv AT oldigesc measuringmalnutritionanddietarydiversitytheoryandevidencefromindia