India spends more on beverages and processed food than fruits, vegetables or eggs

New Delhi: Hidden inside a new government report on consumption expenditure pattern is a big public health warning – Indians have been spending the maximum on processed food and beverages, which are responsible for a rise in obesity, diabetes and heart diseases.

The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey, released last week, showed that in 2023-24 rural India spent 9.84 per cent of their monthly budget on beverages and processed food. The corresponding number for urban India is 11.09 per cent.

Similar trends were seen in 2022-23 as well when rural and urban households spent 9.62 per cent and 10.64 per cent of their monthly expenses on such items respectively. This is for the first time in two decades, the monthly budget on consuming processed food and beverages crossed the 10 per cent mark.

“We suspected it all along, but now the consumption survey reveals the reasons behind the rise in non-communicable diseases in India. Processed food is calorie dense as it is high in sugar, salt and trans-fat,” V Mohan, chairman, Madras Diabetes Research Foundation told DH.

The 2023-24 survey carried out on 2.61 lakh households – 1.54 lakh rural and 1.07 lakh urban – shows rural India spends 47 per cent of its monthly expenditure on food, of which nearly 10 per cent is on processed food and beverages, way above fruits (3.85 per cent), vegetables (6.03 per cent), cereals (4.99 per cent) and eggs, fish and meat (4.92 per cent).

The trend is similar among the city population that spends over 39 per cent on food, of which 11 per cent is on beverages and processed food as against fruits (3.87 per cent), vegetables (4.12 per cent), cereals (3.76 per cent) and eggs, fish and meat (3.56 per cent).

“Substitution of nutritious diets by ultra-processed food products and sugar sweetened beverages is an alarmingly rising trend in both urban and rural populations of India. This is because of falsely promoted aspirational lifestyles by the producers of these products which are highly addictive,” commented K Srinath Reddy, former president Public Health Foundation of India.

More than two decades ago, rural India used to spend just over 4 per cent on such junk food as against 6.35 per cent in urban localities. A big jump occurred between 2004-05 and 2009-10, and since then it has been a steady rise.

“Family’s disposable income is being drained by these products with depletion of essential nutrients from the diet. The health consequences are likely to be disastrous, with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and cancers surging in numbers across India. Public policy must provide an effective response to curb these marketed maladies which result from advertised addictions,” said Reddy, a former professor of cardiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.

On the positive side, the survey shows that consumption of milk and milk products is on the higher side with over 8 per cent of monthly expenditure, putting it at number two position.

Also, expenditure on cereals has come down from more than 22 per cent in 1999-00 to around 4 per cent now, possibly due to free supply under various social welfare programmes.

The bottom 5 per cent of India’s rural population, has an average monthly per capita expenditure of Rs 1,677, while it is Rs 2,376 for the same category of population in the urban areas. On the other hand, the top 5 per cent of India’s rural and urban population has an average monthly expenditure of Rs 10,137 and Rs 20,310, respectively.

The all India average for monthly per capita expenditure for rural areas is Rs 4,122, while that of urban localities is Rs 6,996, according to the report brought out by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.