NEW DELHI, India — Nearly half of India’s at-home protein intake now comes from cereals such as rice, wheat, suji and maida, according to a study released on Wednesday, raising concerns about dietary quality despite adequate average protein consumption.
Indians consume an average of 55.6 grams of protein per day at home. However, the study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a non-profit policy research think tank, found that cereals contribute almost 50 per cent of this protein intake — despite their low-quality amino acid profile and limited digestibility.
The report also highlighted widespread under-consumption across key food groups, including vegetables, fruits and pulses, alongside excess intake of cooking oil, salt and sugar.
“This study spotlights a silent crisis in India’s food system: over-reliance on low-quality proteins, excess calories from cereals and oils, and stark under-consumption of diverse, nutrient-rich foods,” said Apoorve Khandelwal, Fellow at CEEW.
Khandelwal pointed to sharp disparities in access to nutritious food. “In a week, a person in the poorest decile consumes just 2–3 glasses of milk and fruits equivalent to just 2 bananas, compared to 8–9 glasses and 8–10 bananas for those in the richest decile,” she said. These gaps, she added, reflect broader inequities in balanced diet accessibility and underscore the need for diversification “from fork to farm.”
The analysis, based on the 2023–24 NSSO Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, showed that India’s diet remains heavily skewed toward cereals and cooking oils, contributing to nutritional imbalance. Nearly three-fourths of all carbohydrates come from cereals, and cereal intake remains 1.5 times the recommended dietary allowance, boosted by subsidised rice and wheat through the Public Distribution System in lower-expenditure households.
Coarse grains such as jowar, bajra and ragi have seen the steepest decline in home consumption, dropping nearly 40 per cent per capita over the last decade — leaving Indians meeting only about 15 per cent of recommended intake levels.
At the same time, the proportion of households consuming more than 1.5 times the recommended fat intake has more than doubled over the past decade, with higher-expenditure households consuming almost twice as much fat as lower-expenditure groups.
To address these imbalances, the study recommended reforming public food programmes — including the PDS, PM POSHAN and Saksham Anganwadi & POSHAN 2.0 — by reducing cereal-heavy provisioning and expanding access to coarse grains, pulses, milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables. (Source: IANS)
