This policy brief presents the findings of a TCI study examining the effect of women’s nutritional empowerment on dietary diversity within households situated in areas along a continuum from rural to urban. Using data from the National Family Health Survey and satellite-based data on nighttime lights, researchers found a significant link between overall urbanization and dietary diversity. As urbanization levels doubled, the dietary diversity scores of both women and men increased by 7-8%. Women’s empowerment was found to rise along with urbanization, and empowerment was associated with greater dietary diversity for women, though not for men. For every unit increase in the Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition Index, women’s dietary diversity improved by 0.19 food groups. At higher income levels, urbanization becomes a more important factor than empowerment. However, urbanization is not associated with improved nutrition outcomes among lower-income households, whereas empowerment has a significant impact. 

Based on these results, TCI recommends that policymakers:

• Focus efforts to improve women’s nutritional empowerment on India’s most impoverished populations while continuing to promote urban development.
• Ensure access to affordable, healthy food in more urbanized regions of the country by investing in markets and supply chains.

Download the policy brief