Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Tall and not so Tall Women of India

New studies are increasingly appearing based on historical data across the world that better socio-economic status is associated with taller men and women. This study based on a recent Indian data analyses the variations in height among adult women. The main findings show that regional level differences in mean heights are prominent and contiguous regions show similar mean heights after controlling for socio-economic differences. Women from weaker socio-economic groups are shorter and so are women in rural areas though the rural-urban gap disappears after controlling for socio-economic variations. Women who have had at least one child during teenage have lower average heights but this difference is not statistically significant once differences in education are accounted for.

The Changing Pattern of Undernutrition in India: A Comparative Analysis across Regions

calories, consumption, poverty, India

Vulnerability to Globalization in India: Relative Rankings of States Using Fuzzy Models

globalization, vulnerability, fuzzy inference systems, India

Causality between Foreign Direct Investment and Tourism : Empirical Evidence from India

This paper investigates the causal link between foreign direct investment and tourism in India by employing the Granger causality test under a VAR framework. A one-way causality link is found from foreign direct investment to tourism in India. This evidence once again adds to the need for appropriate policies and plans to further expand and develop tourism given that FDI flow into India is expected to be strong in the coming years, bringing along a demand for tourism as well.FDI, Tourism, Granger Causality

The changing pattern of undernutrition in India: A comparative analysis across regions

This study analyses the changes in prevalence of undernutrition between the 1980s and 1990s at the national and sub-national levels in India and focuses on the rural-urban comparisons. The study exploits the demographic information available in household surveys to derive a household-specific norm as the calorie cutoff point to measure undernutrition, instead of the single per capita norm used in most other studies. The main findings of the study are: There has been an apparent increase in the prevalence of undernutrition over time in rural India, while in urban areas, the prevalence has remained unchanged, or has declined. Also, over time, average intakes in urban areas have surpassed those in rural India in most states. At the same time, there appears to be a decline in the within-state inequalities in energy intakes between 1983 and 1993/94, but an increase (especially in urban areas) between 1993/94 and 1999/2000. Income elasticities of energy demand, estimated using household-level data, are large and significant, especially among the poor. There is some evidence that, despite declining energy intakes in rural areas, there has also been some dietary diversification. However, in comparison with other developing nations, the prevalence of undernutrition is high and the level of dietary diversification is low in India. – calories ; consumption ; poverty ; Indi

Economic liberalisation targeted programmes and household food security

"Although there is little consensus on the impact of trade liberalization on poverty and food security, it is nevertheless widely acknowledged that there is a need for governments to establish safety-nets to guard against any potentially harmful effects on the poor and vulnerable sections of society. Against this background, programs aimed at achieving food security and reducing poverty gain increased importance in the reform era. This study aims to evaluate several such programs that are currently in place in the country from the point of view of their impact, efficiency and financial sustainability. The purpose is to determine how these programs may be improved and propose appropriate policy options for reform, while also keeping in mind the new challenges that might lie ahead. Specifically, the study evaluates the Public Distribution System (PDS), Public Works Programs, and certain food-based direct intervention programs such as the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition Program (TINP), with a view to suggest how they can be made more cost effectiveness and better targeted." From Author's Executive SummarySafety nets ,

Dietary Diversity and Women’s BMI among Farm Households in Rural India

Undernutrition is more widespread and persistent in South Asia, including India, with higher numbers of undernourished people living in rural areas. Indian evidence often shows a weak linkage between agriculture and nutrition, though there is ample scope for agriculture to contribute towards reducing undernutrition. This study probes further to understand the linkage between agriculture, dietary diversity and women’s Body Mass Index (BMI) in rural areas of India, as few studies have looked at household nutritional intake and adult nutrition outcome in this context. In the first part of the analysis, we find that in Indian rural areas, women in cultivator households or those who have a higher share of agricultural incomes have lower rates of undernutrition and it is the women in non-agricultural wage labour households who are worse off. To capture the specific features of agriculture, the second part of the analysis focuses on farm households, wherein dietary diversity reflecting nutrition intake is modeled at the household level, while women’s BMI-capturing nutrition outcome is modeled at the individual level. Instrumental variable quantile regression model is used to estimate the women’s nutritional status with potential endogeneity of dietary diversity. Our findings validate once again that dietary diversity improves with: (a) affordability coming from higher income, better wealth status, larger area under cultivation; (b) access to better diets in a sustained manner, in the form of crop and income diversification, ownership of cows and buffaloes as well as market access to sell the crops; (c) better awareness among households because of the presence of an educated adult member. For improvement in an adult women’s BMI, dietary diversity matters, and an equal importance must be given to environmental conditions like better quality of drinking water, good sanitation, smoke-free cooking area and better access to healthcare facilities. Religion, caste and regional variables also play significant roles in enhancing both intakes and outcomes, while there is evidence for a limited role played by education and empowerment in an individual’s nutrition status once all these variables are controlled for.UK AidDepartment for International Development (DFID

Child underweight, land productivity and public services: a district-level analysis for India

Though India’s rank has improved in the Global Hunger Index, contributed largely by the fall in the underweight rates for children, concerns of high level of undernutrition in predominantly agricultural pockets remain. This study aims at linking child underweight rates to agricultural land productivity, a proxy for agricultural prosperity, and to the provisioning of public services, using district-level data. The study estimates a three-stage least squares (3SLS) model with a log-linear specification. Unlike many earlier studies, the results indicate a possible positive relationship between agricultural land productivity and child underweight rates. It appears that the district-level analysis is able to capture aspects of agro-climatic conditions, agricultural development and its spillover effects, and public services delivery more effectively when compared to several studies based on household-level survey data. The results clearly show the importance of public health provisioning in terms of vaccination, administration of oral rehydration salts when there is incidence of diarrhoea, government health facilities in rural areas, public provisioning of food, as also maternal health and women’s education. Though their elasticity was small, the variables were significant and it is clear that they may have a bigger impact on the deprived sections of the population. For example, a 1 per cent increase in land productivity increases the percentage of nourished children below six years by about .08 per cent. Similarly, use of oral rehydration salts in diarrhoea incidence improves the underweight rate by about 0.08 per cent at the overall district level. In the parts of the country where underweight rates are high, the impact will be more and the overall magnitude of reduction would be high even if the elasticity is low. The study also shows, in an indirect way, the need for a convergence of agricultural development efforts that create on-farm and off-farm employment with public service delivery of health, sanitation and food. The policy implication is that the state governments should strive to achieve administrative convergence of both agricultural development and public provisioning, paying special attention to safe water supply.UK AidDepartment for International Development (DFID

Child Under-weight and Agricultural Productivity in India: Implications for Public Provisioning and Women’s Agency

This study is part of the ongoing research program on Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) funded by UK Aid from the Department for International Development, UK. The authors are consultants or regular staff of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, India, one of the six partner institutions of LANSA.A recent global hunger index indicated a 12 percent decline in child underweight rates. This study attempts an empirical explanation of the factors that influence child underweight rates at the district level. Agricultural land productivity, share of women educated above the secondary level and participating in work, maternal, and child health seem to contribute to the reduction in child underweight. However government health and water supply facilities turn out to be ineffective