Economic development, inequality and malnutrition in India

Abstract

Economic development and inequality is known to have an impact on health outcomes. We show this to be true in India where we study the effect of economic status on under and over nutrition. Inequality is measured using income or assets and we show that both matter for malnutrition. We find women are at much higher risk of being malnourished and this risk increases with age. Our results suggest that while under nutrition should remain a policy priority, rising over nutrition in the population cannot be ignored by nutritional planners.