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The Food Environment Toolbox provides data to help policymakers design better nutrition programmes while exploring the food environment to enhance on nutritional adequacy
The George Institute for Global Health India has collaborated with international partners to develop a set of practical tools to help researchers and policymakers better understand how people in India and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) access food from diverse food environments that eventually contribute to the nutritional status of the population.
Published in Current Developments in Nutrition, the study features contributions from Dr Suparna Ghosh-Jerath from The George Institute for Global Health India in a study led by Dr Shauna Downs at Rutgers School of Public Health. This study provides key insights into how food environments impact diets and nutrition, informing efforts to combat malnutrition.
The new study responds to the growing recognition that tools developed in high-income countries fail to reflect the realities of LMIC food environments, which are far more diverse, informal, and dynamic.
Dr Suparna Ghosh-Jerath, Program Head, Nutrition, The George Institute for Global Health, India, said, “Through a comprehensive, iterative process, we developed and refined a ‘Food Environment Toolbox’ tailored for low- and middle-income countries. We piloted it in rural, peri-urban, and urban settings in India and Cambodia, and it includes seven practical tools—like participatory mapping, seasonal food availability calendars, market mapping, and assessments of diet cost and vendor practices.”
Dr Shauna Downs, Associate Professor, Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, Rutgers School of Public Health said, “The tools developed were easy to implement and generally well-received in the field. With a few exceptions—like the seasonal food availability calendar working better in rural areas, or vendor assessments being less relevant for formal supermarkets—they proved adaptable and effective across different settings.”
This toolkit comes at an important time for India, which is facing a double burden of malnutrition—undernutrition in many people, and a rise in diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems. Poor diets are critical risk factors for both. Experts are now calling for more practical and holistic nutrition policies that are double duty, meaning they address the dual burden of undernutrition and diet-related non -communicable diseases and are informed by customised context-specific dietary practices.
The Food Environment Toolbox also has strong implications for India’s major public health and nutrition programmes. Initiatives such as the POSHAN Abhiyaan and the supplementary nutrition component under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), the Mid-Day Meal Scheme and the public distribution system in India could benefit from a shift in focus—from calorie sufficiency to ensuring nutrient adequacy while contextualising these government food programmes to the diverse food environments where they are delivered thereby optimising their uptake and supply chain.
By providing concrete data on food access, availability, affordability, and quality, the toolbox empowers planners and policymakers to design better-targeted, evidence-based interventions that reflect the lived realities of people’s food environments.