ArticleThe Science of the total environment2017
The water use of Indian diets and socio-demographic factors related to dietary blue water footprint.
Article in The Science of the total environment, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Water Footprint of Diets: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Pooled it
- Affordability of healthy and water-saving dietary patterns in The Gambia.Environmental research. Food systems · 2025Article
- Food deprivation among adults in India: an analysis of specific food categories, 2016-2021.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Pathway to achieve a sustainable food and land-use transition in India.Sustainability science · 2023Article
- Dietary Environmental Footprints and Their Association with Socioeconomic Factors and Food Purchase Practices: BRAZUCA Natal Study.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The water footprint and nutritional implications of diet change in Mexico: a principal component analysis.European journal of nutrition · 2022Article
- Effects of strip cropping with reducing row spacing and super absorbent polymer on yield and water productivity of oat (Avena sativa L.) under drip irrigation in Inner Mongolia, China.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Article
- Association between the socio-economic status of households and a more sustainable diet.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
- Disparities and drivers of the water footprint of food consumption in China.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2021Article
- Which diet has the lower water footprint in Mediterranean countries?Resources, conservation, and recycling · 2021Article
- Assessment of Planting Method and Deficit Irrigation Impacts on Physio-Morphology, Grain Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Maize (Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Dietary recommendations in Spain -affordability and environmental sustainability?Journal of cleaner production · 2020Article
- Assessing the sustainability of post-Green Revolution cereals in India.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
- Future diets in India: A systematic review of food consumption projection studies.Global food security · 2019Review
- Diet Quality and Water Scarcity: Evidence from a Large Australian Population Health Survey.Nutrients · 2019Article
- "More crop per drop": Exploring India's cereal water use since 2005.The Science of the total environment · 2019Article
- Environmental impacts of dietary shifts in India: A modelling study using nationally-representative data.Environment international · 2019Article
- Integrating Agriculture and Health Research for Development: LCIRAH as an Interdisciplinary Programme to Address a Global Challenge.Global challenges (Hoboken, NJ) · 2019Article
- Greenhouse gas emissions and water footprints of typical dietary patterns in India.The Science of the total environment · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Agriculture accounts for ~90% of India's fresh water use, and there are concerns that future food production will be threatened by insufficient water supply of adequate quality. This study aimed to quantify the water required in the production of diets in India using the water footprint (WF) assessment method. The socio-demographic associations of dietary WFs were explored using mixed effects regression models with a particular focus on blue (irrigation) WF given the importance for Indian agriculture. Dietary data from ~7000 adults living in India were matched to India-specific WF data for food groups to quantify the blue and green (rainfall) WF of typical diets. The mean blue and green WF of diets was 737l/capita/day and 2531l/capita/day, respectively. Vegetables had the lowest WFs per unit mass of product, while roots/tubers had the lowest WFs per unit dietary energy. Poultry products had the greatest blue WFs. Wheat and rice contributed 31% and 19% of the dietary blue WF respectively. Vegetable oils were the highest contributor to dietary green WF. Regional variation in dietary choices meant large differences in dietary blue WFs, whereby northern diets had nearly 1.5 times greater blue WFs than southern diets. Urban diets had a higher blue WF than rural diets, and a higher standard of living was associated with larger dietary blue WFs. This study provides a novel perspective on the WF of diets in India using individual-level dietary data, and demonstrates important variability in WFs due to different food consumption patterns and socio-demographic characteristics. Future dietary shifts towards patterns currently consumed by individuals in higher income groups, would likely increase irrigation requirements putting substantial pressure on India's water resources.
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