Urban dwellers must buy most of their food. So urban food security depends a lot on the purchasing power of the household. High costs of food in urban areas is largely due to inefficient urban food marketing and distribution. The urban poor can usually buy only a small quantities of food at a time. Income security is crucial to food security for urban dwellers. Most urban areas generate industrial employment and service-sector jobs.

The poor are forced to take casual or insecure jobs. But food security is not enough for good nutrition. A healthy environment is also crucial. The threats to good nutrition for adults and children differs considerably from an affluent city dweller to the urban poor. Clearly poverty and inequality are the major determinants of health and nutrition outcomes in the city.

Urbanisation leads not only to poor dietary practices but also to a poor nutritional status of the people. Economic constraints force people to abandon older food preferences and practices, leading to deficiency and disease. An assessment of the diet, nutritional status and living conditions of Kirby Place, an urban slum in Delhi, revealed:

Consumption of cereals and pulses was lower. The shift from millets such as bajra and jowar to milled wheat and rice after migration could have made a significant difference in consumption of fibre, minerals and vitamins in one's diet.

The consumption of green leafy vegetable was also lower because of higher prices in urban areas and non-availability of time for cooking. Some also reported that there wasn’t enough water for washing these vegetables.

It was seen that the consumption of fresh fruits was low again because of the cost factor.

Milk intake was low in both urban and rural groups. Although in rural areas some families did raise cattle, milk produced from cattle was mainly kept for selling purposes.

As regards other food groups such as meat, fats and oils, nuts etc, the consumption was again lower because of the cost.

More than 19.85 per cent of the mothers were ‘at risk’ as per the criterion recommended by WHO. It was found that only 4 per cent of the women and 1 per cent of the men were overweight in the slum.

Nearly one third of the children were severely malnourished.

While malnutrition remains a serious health concern in India, a new report underscores another growing nutritional problem: obesity. Several studies since the late 1990s have shown that obesity is on the rise in India, particularly among more affluent women living in urban areas. In a country where more than 50% of women are anemic and more than half the children below the age of 5 are seriously malnourished, obesity is emerging as a major health risk amongst the urban population. Lifestyle, the researchers found, was a major factor determining obesity. The richer the person, the more likely they were to be obese. Those who watched more television than others also tended to be more obese. Again, a tale of two cities: obesity grips the rich whereas the poor struggle with malnutrition. Obviously we all need a balance in our diet and lifestyles.

Source: www.nutritionfoundationofindia.org/NEW/SLUM.HTM