Rural - Urban Divide in Diet Diversity and Nutritional Security: Some Insights from Karnataka State

The study has assessed the status of nutrient intake and dietary habits across rural and urban households of Karnataka by collecting primary data from 160 rural and urban households using 24 hours recall method during the year 2016. The study has found that most of the households were nutritionally insecure (81.25%) and, on average, the intake of energy and other nutrients such as β-carotene, niacin and folic acid was lower than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA). The mean daily per capita energy intake was higher in the urban (2312 kcal) than rural (2239 kcal) households. A high degree of inequality exists in food consumption expenditure between low and high income groups. The regression results have indicated that, age, education, production diversity, income and food expenditure of the households have a positive and significant influence and market distance has a negative and significant influence on the dietary diversity of households. The major policy options suggested are: distributing subsidized nutritive food commodities, milch animals, imparting training on kitchen garden practices, generating awareness about nutrition, etc. to improve nutritional security of the households.