NUTRITIONAL NORMS BY CALORIE INTAKE AND
MEASUREMENT OE POVERTY
V. K . E . V. RA O
Institute for Social and Economic Change,
Bangalore, India
Jieprinted /nm
p r o c e e d in g s o f t h e
41ST SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL TNSTITOTB
NEW DELHI, 1077
Bull. Int.'Stilt. InsL. 1077, X L V n (1) 645-G5-1.
N U T R I T I O N A L N O R M S BY C A L O R IE I N T A K E
A N D M E A S U R E M E N T OF P O V E R T Y
V. K. R. V. RAO
Institulr for Social and Economic Change,
Bangalore^ India
1. In tro d u ctio n
A method commonly employed for the measurement of poverty is to take
the nutritional norm in terms of daily cuilorio intiike by consumer unit, and
the cut-off point by the expenditure class which has an average daily calorie
intake per consumer unit nearest to the norm and then treat half of the popu­
lation lying in this expenditure class and the entire population in the lower
expenditur;^; classes as the poor. This is the method employed by Randolciir
and Rath (1071) in their famous brochure ‘Poverty in Imlia’. And it has been
followed by more studies using a more or less similar method.
Recently published N.a.s. data, compilcrl specifically for the y . a .o . on
the basis of its 20th Round (1971-72) give caloric and protein content of food
items consumed pe>r diem per consumer unit. Those data show the limitations
of using the oalorio intake norm in the manner described above for estimating
the number of the poor.
2. E x am in atio n o f NSS d a ta
TJio data shows an average daily intake of as high as 4000 calories and
more per consumm’ unit for 2159 of the 11468 sample households in rural
India, while 337 of these households had a daily intake per consumer unit
of nearly 7300 calories. Details are given in Table I.
TA BLE 1. N ID IB E R OF SAZktPLE HOUSEHOLDS REPO RTIN G
H IG H CALORIC IN TA K E
D aily carorio
No. of
No. of
D aily calorio
intake
houseliold
household
intake
6080
.578
6
4459
10
5380
112
4658
5500
341
433
4828
7207
337
19
5004
2159
37 Average 5333
5037
The latest f .a .O . norm for daily calorie intake p e r consumer unit is 2300.
Out of the 49198 consumer units covered by the 114G8 sample households,
15848 consumer units had a "daily intake of less than 2300 .calories and ^resnmably constituted the rural poor. These consumer units, however, were
646
V, K. R. V. RAO
distributed among all expenditure classes and not just confined to the lower
among them as sho\vm in Table 2. Tlie table does not support tlio usual pre­
sumption that extent of poverty is indicated by size of expenditure.
TA BLE 2. N U M B ER OF RU RA L CONSLTMER U NITS W ITH
CA LORIE IN TA K E LESS THAN 2300
M onthly exN um ber of M onthly exN um ber of
penditure
consum er
penditure
calorie
doss per
units Tvith
class per
intake*
consum er
caloric
consum er
below 2,300
unit (in Rs.) intake below unit (in Rs.)
2300
0-15
2026
3-U43
135-t
15-21
4496
43-55
550
21-24
2230
55-/5
271
24-28
2449
75 & above
60
28-34
2323
All classes
15S4S
Previous writers on the subject have used the calorie intake norms to
determine the cut-off expenditure class for determining the magnitude of
poverty. Taking a daily intake of less than 2300 calories for determining the
cut-off exponditime class, the relevant figure in respect of the N.s.s. data
for 1971-72 is the monthly expenditure class of Rs. 21-24. On this basis, the
number of households representing the poor among the consumer units wmuld
be 2057 out of a total of 11468 or 17.9 per cent. But this nuTuber includes
673 hoiiseholdg or 27.3 per cent whose daily intake is above 2300 calories.
At the same time, the two expenditure classes immediately above the cut-off
point include largo nurnbere of houso-holds with a daily intake per consumer
unit of below 2300 calories class Rs. 24-28 having 44.1 per cent of such house­
holds, the corresponding figure for the class Rs. 28-34 l>eing 28.2 per cent.
In fact the number of households with daily intake of below 2300 calories
irres|)eotivo of expenditure class is 3298 or 28.8 per cent of the total of sample
households as agaimst the figirre of 17.9 per cent which we get by the method
of cut-off expenditure class on calorie intake criteria. Clearly, the methodo­
logy followed liitherto for estimating tbe magnitude of rural poverty does
not appear to be (lOrrect. WTiJe the proportion of undei'-nutritional poverty
undoutedly declines with increasing income, we find the paradoxical result
that the poor as defined also include the not-poor and that the not-poor include
the poor.
As Dr, Sukliatrne (1977) has pointed out in his Lai Bahadur Shastri
Memorial L'i'Cturc, ‘We cannot regard everyone eating b-low the average energy
retjuirement as under-nourished, nor does it follow that everyone eating above
TABLE 3. JfUMBER OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS WITH VAKYtKG CAEORTE INTAKE PER CONSUMER UNIT
Mtmthly
c xpoiidiiuro
claad por
coiisunv'r
unit (ill Ra.)
Total nurabor Average'
NumlKir o f IiolisiiIio M h with uat(>rm iiitnlto pm' coiiAiunor unit
Bnlow
J 6D0
Rotwooti
1600 J 700
B<jtwoeii
^otween
1700 1000
1900-2100
41
20
921
286
1267
1957
116
4C0
347
»I3
22M7
172
103
5IH
656
1174
2431
131
204
492
1266
1749
273 1
14'
300
172R
2028
3127
218
192
1H9
190
71
no
111
82
J8-3I
ct
3S
34-43
16
21
conaumur
unit
1493
15-21
56
2300
ca|ori>>
in oach cloba iatako |K-r
444
62
15
Abov(»
40
207
2 1-2rt
2100-2300
T otal
bolow
2300
o f hou!i«holtl*(
404
0 -1 5
21-21
Botweoii
------------
81
132
25
31
55
123
1532
1655
3513
55-75
r>
17
25
53
1266
1319
4016
A bovo R i. 100
All axpofiH ituro
551
456
c
XH
>
M
v:>
5C
tr
n
H
4 3 -55
7 5 -1 0 0
O
C
*»3
r?
-4
I
2
10
588
598
4571
A
I
II
471
482
0181
676
702
3208
8170
11408
2724
864
4-
V. K. R. V. RAO
the average need is over-nourished... Even as a matter of course, the daily
requheraent of an itulividual in healtli will vary about his true mean require­
ment within the range of variance typical of the generating meoiianism govern­
ing energy balance in man, without implying that an individual is under­
nourished whenever his intake is below the true average requirement and
vice-versa.’ He concludes ‘Clearly, in any classification of the incidence of
of poverty based on energy needs of man, it is necessary to allow for both
inter as well as intra indi\fidual variation if the calculation of the poverty
line is to be nutritionally meaningful’. On the basis of present data available
on the subject, he suggests ‘that the requirement of an indi\idual will be around
a mean value with a standard deviation of approximately 400 calories’, and
concludes ‘we would expect most adult individuals to have their intake at the
retail level between the range represented by 1950 to 3550 calories’.
The data given earlier in this paper show that the range of intake varies
from an average intake of 1493 calories Ln the monthly expenditure class Rs. 0-15
to one of 6181 cilories in the monthly expenditure class of Rs. 100 and above.
In fact, all expenditure classes above a monthly figure of Rs. 55 show an average
intake per consumer unit of above 3500 calories. One does not know how to
explain this phenomenon in nutritional terms.
The x.s.s. data do not also support the normally held thesis that the
relation between calories intake and monthly consumption expenditure in­
creases rapidly to start with and gradually thereafter till it stabilises itself
at a given maximum level. Contrary to Dr. Sukhatme’s contention that there
is ample evidence in the n .s .s . data to support this belief, the fixstevev data released by the x.s.s. on the details of calorie intake by expenditure
classes shows that calorie intake keeps on increasing with increasing
levels of consumption expenditme even after crossing what are regarded
by nutritional experts as a tolerable maximum. That the pattern of
increase of calorie intake in relation to increase in monthly consumption
expenditure does not support Dr. Sukhatme’s thesis on the subject is shown
by Table 4 compiled from n .s.s . data for 1971-72.
While there is a rapid increase from the first to the second expenditure
class and a fall over the third and fourth expenditure classes, the fifth and
sixth cla.sses show a rise, the seventh a slightly smaller rise, and the eighth
and ninth expenditure classes a higher rise at a more or less equal rate, while
A very sharp rise is seen in the tenth or highest expenditure class. The conti­
nuity of the rise in calorie intake of each expenditure class over the preceding
class culminating in a rise over the immediately preceding next highest class
is certainly an unusual phenomenon in nutritional behaviour and raises some
CALORIE E^TAKE AND MEASEREMENT OF POVERTY
649
TABL[^ I. RICE IN' A \T:RA G E c a l o r i e INTAILE p e r COXSTBIPTION ITNIT OVER
M ONTHLY E N P E N L IT U R E CLASSES
Incroasos over im m ediately
procoding class
^Monthly expsn- Avorago daily
ditore class calorio intake per
Calories
Percentage of
(Rs.)
consum er uiMt
increase
O-lo
1493
1957
15-21
464
31.1
2 1 -2 4
2287
330
11.2
2 4-2S
2431
144
6.3
25-34
303
2734
12.5
3127
34^3
393
14.4
43-55
386
3513
12.3
4016
55-75
503
14.3
13.9
75-100
553
4574
35.1
1607
100 3: above
6131
doubt about the credibility of the n.s.s. data for 1971-72 which has been
specially compiled for the f . a . o . by the n . s . s . Organization.
3. O th er m ethodological q u e stio n s
Turning no tv to other methodological q nest ion,s, calorie is not a homo­
geneous concept in terms of the nutritional quality of the food components
h'om which it is derived. The n . s . s . data used in tlu.s paper contain figures
for the percentage of calories derived from five food group.s which broadly
correspond to carbohydrates (I), vegetable proteins (LI), animal proteins (III),
fats (IV), and miscellaneous (V) which, besides calories also contains other
needed nutrients. Relevant figmes are given in Tables 5 and 6 for all expendi­
ture classes as well as for all calorie intake groups.
Table 5 shows that while the percentage of calories drawn from cereals
and other carbohydrates falls from 89.4 per cent in the lowest expenditure
class to 60 percent in the highest expenditure class, the share of vegetable
proteins rises from o,2 to 10,0 per cent, of animal proteins from 1.2 to 11.3
per cent, of fat.s from 2.0 to 5.2 per cent, and of the miscellaneous group from
2.3 to 7.5 per cent. Table 6 shows that while the percentage of calories di-awn
from cereals and other carbohydrates falls from 86 per cent in the low(\st calorie
group to 74 ptir cent in thy lughest calorie group, that from vegcUjjle proteins
goe.s up from 4.3 to 12.5 per cent, and of animal proteins from 2.4 to 6.1 per
cent, while the share of fats and of the miscellaneous group doe.s not show
650
V. K. E. V. RAO
T.ABLE 5. PERCEN TA G E OF CALORIES FO R FOOD GROUPS AND AVERAGE DALLY
C-ALOREE AND PR O T E IN INTAICJ:; FO R ALL E X PE N D IT U R E CLASSES
ilo ath Jr ex­
penditure per
consumer unit —
(in Rs.)
0-15
15-21
21-24
24-28
28-34
34^3
4^-00
55-75
75-100
100 & above
.AH classes
PorLiontage of calerie from food groups
I
n
m
TV
V
89.40
88.17
87.54
85.61
84.81
82.58
80.30
76.38
73.77
66.04
82.43
5.16
5.13
5.46
6,11
6.34
6.63
7.81
9.24
9.71
9.95
7.34
1.22
1.70
1.95
2.76
3.16
4.25
5.39
6.71
8.40
11..33
4.56
1.95
2.46
2.66
2.81
3.10
3.44
3.59
3.93
4.29
5.15
3.46
2.27
2..54
2-39
2.71
2.59
3.10
2.91
3.74
3.83
7.53
2.21
Average intake per
diem per
consum er u n it
Calorie Proteina
(gras.)
1493
46
60
1957
2287
69
2431
73
82
2734
3127
93
105
3513
4016
121
139
4574
182
6181
76
2724
TABLE 6. PERCEN TA GE OF CALORIES FEO.M FTV^ FOOD GROUTS AND A V ERA GE
DAILY CALORIE AND PR O T E IN INT.AIvE FO R ALL C-ALORIE ENTAKE GROUTS
Average intake
Dailv calorie
per consum er
Percentage of calorie from food groups
intake per
u n it
corsum er unit
V Calories Protein
I
m
TV
n
(gras.)
1221
35
4.58
85.60
4.30
2.37
3.15
Upto loOO
1604
45
3.44
3.16
4.06
2.45
86.89
1501-1700
52
3.38
1801
3.21
2.57
86.73
4.11
1701-1900
57
2002
2.64
3.47
3.39
4.47
86.03
1901-2100
64
3.07
2203
2.94
3.47
5.21
85.31
2101-2300
70
2399
2.86
3.55
4,89
3.33
85.37
2301-2500
77
2599
5. IS
3.98
2.91
3.53
84.40
2501-2700
84
2842
2.76
5.54
4.05
3.01
84.65
2701-3000
96
3227
2.72
5.45
4.60
3.16
84.07
3001-3500
111
3717
3.35 ‘ 2.79
6.23
4.75
32.88
3501^000
170
5248
3.47
6.12
3.44
74,50 12.47
4001 & above
76
2724
2.21
7.34
4.56
3.46
82.43
All groups
CAXOEEE INTAKE AND MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY
651
any noticeable trend over the different calorie groups. The influence of
income on the quality composition of the calorie intake is clearly seen from
the differing behaviour of the five food groups in Table 5 as compared to
Table 6, These also bring out the absence of any unique relationship between
nutritional quality and calorie intake.
The inadequacy of the calorie intake criterion is further emphasized w'hen
we look at its composition by different food groups among the rural popula­
tion of different states of the Indian Union (Table 7).
TABLE 7. PERCENTAGE OF CALO RIES FROM FIV E FOOD GROUPS AND A \T:RA G E
DAILY CALORIE AND PR O T EIN IN T A K E IN RU RA L AREAS OF D IF F E R E N T STATES
States
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Assam
3. BLhar
4. Gujarat
5. H ar\'ana
6. Him achal Pradesh
7. Jam m u and K ashm ir
8. K arnataka
9. Kerala
10. M adhya Prade.=:h
11. M aharashtra
12. Orissa
13. Punjab
14. R ajasthan
15. Tam il Nadu
16. U ttar Pradesh
17. West Bengal
All Lidia
Porcentage of calories from food groups
n
ni
82.36
80. OS
86.59
78.24
78.70
81.84
82.59
83,81
78.22
77.88
81.42
89.46
73.64
84.64
81.31
83.93
86.18
32.43
4,48
3.69
6.05
5,66
4.00
5.94
3.01
7.22
7.15
14.75
7.07
3,27
4.18
3.01
6.97
6.33
3.30
7.34
2 92
3.79
2.63
7.10
13.36
7.70
6.93
3.23
5.08
2.89
3.70
1.50
12.63
7.76
3.22
4.47
2.83
4.56
3.62
3.70
2.40
6.08
1.69
2.76
3.59
2 21
2.31
2.60
4.71
2.23
3.30
2.57
3.70
3.49
3. 89
3,40
0.12
2.74
2.28
2.86
2.25
1.70
3.88
3.53
7.24
1.88
3.10
3.54
6.25
2.02
4.80
1.78
3.80
2.21
Average daily
intake per
consum er unit
Calories Protein
(gms)
2666
73
2665
69
2732
S3
82
2322
115
3652
3190
98
3490
100
2839
77
50
2195
129
3055
2567
73
66
2533
3711
111
102
3213
77
2394
102
3198
2311
63
76
2724
The quality of the calorie content in, for example, Kerala is seen in this
table to be definitely better than that in Orissa; but if the calorie norm is
adopted, Orissa would be superior to Kerala.
65 2
V. K. R. V. RAO
It is obvioiip therefore that calorie intake has to be taken in conjunction
with its content by different food groups, that is. by its nutritional quality,
before it can be used as a nutritional determinant of the magnitude of poverty.
This means that malnutrition has to be taken together with the so-called
under-nutrition for establishing the nutritional criteria of poverty.
Altogether, after studying in some detail the data on calorie intake by
calorie groups and expenditure classes given in x.s.s. Number 258/1 to 258/10,
for rural India, one is filled with grave doubts about the wisdom of using the
calorie intake norm as a criterion for the determination of the poverty line in
terms of expenditure classes or even for the identification of poverty except
perhaps that of destitution, or semi-starvation.
The balanced diet approach is therefore preferable to the calorie intake
approach. And this is what writers like Bardhan (1974). Rudra (1974) and
others have done, unlike Dandekar and Rath (1971) who have only used the
calorie intake criterion.
The balanced diet approach, however, is not so easy to use for mcasiurG'
ment of poverty. Apart from the difficulties caused by the non-availability
of the required data, difficulties also arise becau.se of regional differences and
income differences in the food stuffs used and differences in the manner of
utilisation. When intertemporal comparisons are undertaken, deflation of prices
comes in as a basic condition with all the diffi(mlties it involves, especially as it
concerns the food basket with all its regional, cultural, and income differences.
Besides these difficiUties in. theii’ application, nutritional criteria are not
sufficient to identif}' poverty or measure its extent in any given population.
In fact, most Indian writers on the subject have sought to identify a minim vim
income critf-rion for poverty by taking the expenditure needed for a balanced
diet, the expenditure class which incurs an equi’valcnt expenditure on food,
the ob.served proportion between food and non-food expenditure in that class
and then treating the total expenditure incurred as the minimum income for
drawing the pov^i'ty line. They have however made no attempt cither to
analyse the content of the non-food expenditure nor attempt any criterion
for determuiing its minimum as they have done in the case of food expenditure.
The result is a mixtui-e of the normative and the real, which vitiates tlie credi­
bility of the figures the}‘ set out in terms of monthly expenditure on income
for the determination of poverty.
4. C oncluding re m a rk s
^
The conclusion of this paper therefore is that estimates of the magnitude
of poverty based on the sole criterion of calorie intake or cut-off point of
CALORIE i n t a k e AND MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY
653
expenditure class based on the given calorie intake are defective and can be
used, if at all, only alongside a clear statement of the reservations they are
subject to. To a lesser extent this would also be true if a balanced diet is
substituted for the calerie intake. I am afraid there is no getting away from
fresh exercises on the content of a minimum level of living for drawing
the poverty line if we are to have meaningful statements on the nature
and magnitude of poverty in India. Poverty has to be identified with deficiency
in the total level of living. And total level of hving includes not only energy
requirements but also balanced diet needed for health, and the other compo­
nents of basic needs essential for human existence at a tolerable level. This
exercise on the connotation and identification of poverty has still to be under­
taken in India.
References
BiRDH.\y, p . K. (1974). On the incidence of poverty in rural India in sixties. In Poverty and
income distribniion in India, Sriniva.^an, T. N. and Bardhan, P. K. (ed), 264-280, Statistical
Publishing Society, Calcutta.
D.VXDEK.VII, V. M. and R a t h . N. (1971), Poverty in India. Indian School of Political Economy,
Ponna.
F ao (1973). Quoted in Dr. Sukhatm e’a Lai B ahadur Shastri lecture.
NSS (1976-1977). Xumbera 258/1 to 258/10.
R tjD ra, a . (1974). lliniraiun level of liv-ing—a statistical exam ination. In Poverty and income
dUtribution in India, Srinivasan, T. N. and Bardhan, P. K. (ed), 281-290. Statistical
Publishing Society, Calcutta.
StTiLrTATOUT:, p . V. (1977). yu tritio n and Poverty, Lai B ahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture,
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
K.ey w ords
Calorie groups, calorie norms, cut off point, expenditure class, consumer unit, household,
carbohydrates, proteins, fats, balanced diet, poverty line.
Abstract
A commonly employed m ethod for a.ss6ssment of poverty is the daily nutritional intake
in term s of calories per consumer unit or per capita. The latest norm used by the F.A.O. is
2300 calories per consuroer unit or 1900 calories per capita. N utritional experts also regard
a daily calorie intake of 3500-4000 as the ceiling for consumption.
Recent N.S..S. studios have made a detailed study of calorie intake for sample households
and consum er units in the sample households, and given classified data by size groups of calorie
intake." These were specially compiled by them for the F.A.O. The data shows an average
daily intake of as high as 400u calories per consumer unit and more for 2159 out of 11468 sample
households in rural India and shows the calorie intake increasing w ith increasing levels of conaumption even after crossing the norm ally accepted m axim um for such consumption. In fact,
337 households out of 11468 show a daily intake per consumer unit of nearly 7000 calories. The
data aUo shows that all expenditure cla-sses, from the lo-west to the highest, contain households
654
V. K . B. V. RAO
w ith consum er units ha\-ing a daily calorie intake of beiow 2300 calories. They also show that
am ong the hou.seholds th at fall in the expenditure classes below the cut-off point determ ined
on the basis of a daily calorie intake of less than 2300 calories and presum ably the rural poor,
27.3 per cent had a daily calorie intake of moro tlian 2300 calories ; and 12.5 per cent a daily calo­
rie intake ranging between 2810 and 5380 calories.
Application of the calorie intake norm for determ ining poverty thus gives the paradoxical
result th a t the rural poor are found in all expenditure classes and th a t the lowest expenditure
classes contain m any persons who are not poor. The conclusion th at seems to follow is the
in-applicability of the calorie intake norm for detonrnining poverty, though it m ay be of rele­
vance for determ ining destitution. We need some other criterion, not so much one of a balanced
diet as a package of minimum com ponents of basic consumption requirem ents needed for toler­
able level of living. Such a criterion is still to bo evolved in India.
R^sum^
Une m ethode frequem m ent employee pour I’evaluaticm de pauvret^ est la consommation
joum aliere en terraes do calories p ar unite de consom inateur ou per capita. L a dem iere nonne
en emploi par la FAO est 2300 calories par unite de consommateur ou 1900 calories per capita.
Les experts nutritifs sont auasi de I’opinion qu’une consommation joum aliere calorique do 3500
A 4000 comme la lim ite pour la consomption.
Dos recherches NSS recentes ont fait une etude d^taillee de consomption de calories par
menages d ’exem ple et des iinites de corLSommateur dans les roenoges d ’exem ple, e t ont presente
des donnees classLfiees par dimensions de groupes de consommation calorique. Collos-ci ont
specialement compilees par eux pour le FAO. Les donnees indiqueut une consommation
joum aliere moyenne aussi elevee quo 4000 calories par unite do consom m ateur e t pour plus de
2159 sur 11468 menakes d ’exemple en Inde rurale et dem ontrent que la consom mation de calories
augm ente avec les niveaux ascendants de consomption meme a p r^ avoir croise le maxinium
normalem ent accepte pour de telles consomptions. En effet, de 11468, 337 menages m ontrent
line consom mation joum aliere par unite de consommateur de prfe de 7000 calories. Ces d o n n as
dem ontrent egalement que fcoutcs les classes da consommation do la plus basse A la plus haute
contiennent los menaees avec des unites do consommateurs ayant une consom ption calorique
joum aliere d ’eades.sou.s de 2300 calories. Elies dem ontrent egalement, que parm is des menages
qui appartiennent a la classe do consommation audessous du point “ cut-off” determ ine sur la
base d ’une consommation joum aliere calorique de moins de 2300 calories e t piobablem ent les
pamTes m raux, 27.3% avaieiit une consommation joumaliere calorique de plus do 2300 calories ;
et 12.5% une consommation joum aliere calorique comprise entre 2810 et 5380 calories.
L’appUcation de la norme de consomption calorique pour determ iner la pauvrete donne done
le resultat paradoxal que les pauvres ruraux so trouvent dans toutes lea classes depenses et
que la classe de depenses la plus baase coutient beaucoup de porsonnoa qui ne sont pas pauvres.
L a conclusion qui serable suivre est I’inapplicabilite de la norme de consom mation calorique
pour determ iner la pauvrete bien que olio peut etre pertinante pour d6tem iiner la destitution.
Nous avons boaoin d ’un autre critero, pas tellem ent celui d’un regime balance m ais d ’un minimum
do partie constituante de besoin de consomption 5xige pour un niveau de vie tolerable. E n
crit€re psreil doit encore se developper en Inde.