Only 60% pregnants respondents could eat 3 meals daily, says study

New Delhi: Only 60 per cent of pregnant women respondents could eat three main meals daily in October-November last year, reflecting the pressures on food availability among the vulnerable populace during pandemic, according to a new study.

Around 6,000 families had participated in the study conducted by UNICEF India in partnership with the Indian Institute of Human Development (IHD). The data was collected in four rounds between May and December 2020, covering 12 districts in seven states -- Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

The study titled 'Assessing Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Socioeconomic Situation of Vulnerable Populations through Community Based Monitoring' found that access to adequate food was a daunting challenge for the respondents during the pandemic.

"Only around three-fifths (60 per cent) of the pregnant women respondents could eat three main meals daily, reflecting the pressures on food availability among the vulnerable populace. The unavailability of food also has adverse implications for the nutrition of unborn children. The sample districts of Jalaun, Lalitpur and Agra fared the worst in this respect," the study said.

One-third of the respondents spent relatively less on essential food items such as vegetables, milk, fruits and eggs in December as compared to the pre-lockdown levels, according to the study.

"This decline, which likely led to curtailed consumption of these protein-rich food items, is expected to have adversely impacted children's development in particular," it added.

The study noted that rural communities fared better than their urban counterparts in this respect.

"The situation improved after June-July, but many people continued to grapple with hunger right up to December, with 28 per cent of the urban respondents reporting food shortage," it said.

According to the study, home returnees (people who returned to their native places after the lockdown) and female-headed families were more vulnerable than the average households as far as the share of jobless persons and food availability were concerned.

"Moreover, in families with small children, a higher percentage of home returnees reported food scarcity vis- -vis resident families. This indicated a higher adverse impact on children's growth in the families of home returnees," it said.

Noting that food scarcity has adversely affected the children in the families of home returnees, the study said there is a stark difference in food availability between the returnee households and residents' households for families having less than one-year-old children, those having two to five-year-old children, and those with six to 19-year-old children.