Pushcarts or shopping carts? Supermarkets and nutrition in urban India

This Fulbright research project directly asks 300 randomly selected households in South Delhi where and when they buy fruit and vegetables, what drives those decisions, and what they see as barriers to eating more fruit and vegetables. It examines correlations with income, education, dietary habits, obesity, and chronic disease history. Surveyed households will be followed over the next three years as part of a larger study on chronic disease.

This data set provides a baseline for thinking about how to effectively promote consumption of healthy foods. Over time, changes in consumption, purchasing habits and preferences, and chronic disease can be tracked as supermarkets develop in South Delhi.

For more information, contact Lauren Finzer (lauren.finzer@gmail.com)

The implications of the rapid rise of supermarkets in India are hotly contested, but nutrition is largely missing from the debate. This is a mistake: As they reach more Indians over time, supermarkets will

increasingly influence dietary patterns. Decision makers should think ahead about how to maximize health and well-being in light of the growth of supermarkets, and gather data to inform policy and practice.

Project under the mentorship of Dr. D. Prabhakaran at the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi