Socio-economic drivers of dietary vulnerability and food decision-making in Maharashtra: a cross-sectional analysis

Food security is one of the most significant factors that affect the health of people and is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. In areas where there is economic diversity, such as Maharashtra in India, where the economy is developing, the problem of access to food is still a concern. The purpose of the current study is to examine the most significant issue of food security, which is dietary economic vulnerability. The cross-sectional survey was conducted online among 488 adults living in the state of Maharashtra. Socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, education, income, marital status, and employment status were considered. The Dietary Economic Vulnerability (DEV) was an ordinal variable, which reflected the degree to which the household income restricted the food choices. The analysis was conducted using descriptive and bivariate analysis, and ordinal logistic regression to identify the independent predictors. K-means cluster analysis was used to identify different socio-economic groups for targeted interventions. Lower income and lower educational attainment were the factors that predicted most strongly a higher level of dietary economic vulnerability. People in employment were not the only ones protected from constraints of food access, as economically active individuals also reported a high level of vulnerability. Education was the key factor that raised people’s capabilities and lowered their dietary vulnerability, even after the effects of income and employment status had been accounted for. Older age and marital status were associated with lower vulnerability. The results of the cluster analysis revealed that there was a considerable amount of heterogeneity in food access constraints in the population. Food and nutrition insecurity in Maharashtra due to a lack of resources is the result of a complicated interaction of various socio-demographic factors and not just the fact of being employed. Measures aimed at people’s capabilities, which would empower them to have adequate incomes and access to education, would be the right way to bring about the desired food security outcomes.