Indian nutritionists and international nutritional standards: concepts and controversies

This paper explores how Indian nutritional scientists and policy planners have influenced the formulation and interpretation of standards of nutritional status. It draws on diverse published evidence by Indian scientists on three controversial issues: (1) the validity and applicability of international nutritional standards to India; (2) the so-called protein gap; and (3) the 'small but healthy' hypothesis. The paper concludes that Indian scientists have had considerable influence in international nutrition and food policy debates. Moreover, their positions seem to have been motivated more by nationalistic and scientific, rather than Indian ethnomedical cultural concerns. The paper provides one example of how Third World scientists and science have influenced a major area of scientific policy debate. The roles of cultural and political-economic factors in the construction of national and international nutritional standards are highlighted.