Anti-armed measures and targeted welfare schemes such as the Mid-Day Meal schedule and the integrated children’s development services have ensured that hunger is no longer so acute | Photocredit: V Raju
The new Mospi report on food intake, based on the surveys of 2022-23 and 2023-24, offers, when read in addition to the findings of 2011-12 of the 68th round of the NSS, a significant portrait of how Indians eat. In 2011-12 on average per head of the population, an average of 2,233 kilocalories in rural areas and 2,206 in urban areas. A decade later, the figures in general are stable: 2,212 in the countryside and 2,240 in Urban India. The protein intake was approximately 60 grams per person per day in 2011-12 and increased to around 61 grams in 2023-24, while the fat intake has been moved from 48 grams to around 52 grams in urban India.
According to HCES data 2011-12, of all meals received from all sources in 30 days, the highest number of meals is in school, potentialetc., were received by national children in the age group 5-9 (8.5 meals per boy and 9 meals per girl), followed by national children in the age group of 10-14 (7.1 meals per boy and 7.7 meals per girl). This trend remained the same as according to data from 2022-23 and 2023-24. Moreover, the national figure is more than twice the corresponding urban figures in all categories for peers, and this pattern remains consistent during the decade.
This shows that anti-arms and targeted welfare schemes such as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, and the integrated child development services have ensured that hunger is no longer as acute as in previous decades. The Poshan Abhiyaan, launched in 2018, has also placed nutrition in the center of public policy, aimed at pregnant women, mothers who lactate mothers and children.
Eating patterns
However, the twin surveys emphasize two important points about eating patterns of Indians. First, it shows that diet diversity is still lagging behind. In the countryside of India, almost half of the protein that people eat still come from grains such as rice and wheat. Foods that are richer in proteins – such as pulses, fruit and vegetables – are eaten much less. For example, only about 9 percent of proteins in rural diets come from pulses, which is far lower than the recommended levels. In Stedelijk India, people eat a little less proteins from grains and a little more from pulses compared to rural areas, but the difference is marginal.
Secondly, there is a downward trend in monthly consumption per head of the population of grains and pulses and pulsen products, both in national and urban areas from 2011-12 to 2022-24. However, grains are still the highest percentage of where people consume proteins.
In states such as Punjab, Haryana and Kerala, the daily calorie and protein intake per head of the population is well above the national average, which is reflected by milk, pulses and animal proteins. In states such as Odisha, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, inlet levels remain closer to the national average, but here too the data indicate gradual improvements compared to 2011-12. What is striking is the slow but steady decline of grain dependence and the increasing contribution of pulses and dairy in most regions.
The comparative proof from 2011-12 to 2023-24 shows how far India has come and how much more is possible. Calories are no longer the central care they were ever, but ensuring sufficient proteins, vitamins and minerals remains unfinished things.
Welfare schedules that already reach millions can be further diversified – supplement rice and wheat with pulses, millet and strengthened foods. Public meals, from schools to AnganwadisCan be designed to display regional preferences and at the same time guarantee balance. And citizens themselves, armed with greater consciousness, can reclaim the wisdom of traditional diets – Dal, Greens, Fermented Foods and Seasonal Fruits – without leaving the convenience of modern food systems.
The lesson from the surveys is that India’s food story is not about whether we eat enough, but whether we eat well. With the right mix of policy, culture and consciousness, it is possible to imagine a future where the story is not only of adequacy, but of real food.
Prasu is deputy director, Meghal and Astitva are assistant directors, Mospi. Views are personal
Published on September 11, 2025
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