Journal Article

Women's Dietary Diversity and Child Feeding Practices Amidst COVID19 in India: Findings From National Family Health Surveys, 2016–2021

Pant, Anjali, Chakrabarti, Suman, Headey, Derek, Singh, Nishmeet, Nguyen, Phuong Hong

2025

Overview

The COVID‐19 pandemic caused a crisis that jeopardized food consumption and dietary diversity. This study aimed to: (1) investigate relationship between COVID‐19 and women's and children's diets in India; (2) examine how this varies by socioeconomic status and mothers' vegetarianism; and (3) assess whether mobility restrictions during India's national lockdown influenced these dietary changes. The analysis drew on data from India's National Family Health Survey 2015–16 and 2019–21, focusing on 11 states surveyed before and during COVID‐19 ( N  = 567,727 women, 141,905 children). COVID‐19 exposure was defined as interviews after 24 March 2020 (national lockdown). Outcomes included child feeding practices and women's food consumption and dietary diversity. The impact of COVID‐19 on diets was estimated using a difference‐in‐difference model; effect of mobility reduction on diets was examined using linear regression. All analyses were adjusted for confounders, interview month, state fixed effects, and sampling weights. Results showed that COVID‐19 exposure was linked to significant declines in child feeding practices (−6.9 percentage points [pp] for minimum dietary diversity, −5.0 pp for minimum acceptable diet, and −6.1 pp for fruit consumption) and women's diet (−5.7 pp for dietary diversity and green vegetable consumption). While magnitude of impact varied across socioeconomic sub‐strata and mothers’ vegetarianism status, the differences were not statistically significant. The diets of women and children were greatly impacted by mobility reduction. COVID‐19 has worsened the diets of women and children in India. More research is needed on the impact of relief measures to strengthen food safety nets nationwide. Before the pandemic, the diets of children and women in Indian districts were suboptimal. The COVID‐19 pandemic further deteriorated the dietary status of both mothers and children. Exclusive breastfeeding improved & complementary feeding declined following the pandemic. The effect of the pandemic on dietary intake and diversity among children and women did not show significant variation across different socioeconomic groups or vegetarianism categories. Mobility reduction during lockdown affected food consumption & diet diversity.