An Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) report on the importance of ‘nutrition security’ — through fruits, vegetables and juice intake — found that 56.3% of school children in NCR were taking less than the recommended daily intake of vegetables, and only 27.2% consume fruit daily. The report’s findings reflect that children from higher-income homes are not necessarily consuming more vegetables than those from lower-income homes, despite greater ease of access.
A survey was conducted across 95,596 students from classes V to XII in 90 schools, of which 36 were government and 54 were private schools. The survey referred to the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), according to which a person should consume at least 300g of vegetables and 100g of fresh fruits daily.
The survey found that the average daily vegetable intake among the government school students was 250 grams, while children in private schools had a daily average intake of 230 grams.