Nutrition literacy: a key factor in public health improvement in India

Nutrition literacy is the capacity to obtain, understand, and apply nutrition information. It plays a pivotal role in addressing India's coexistence of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and rising non-communicable diseases. This perspective synthesizes evidence on how nutrition, food, and health literacy shape dietary behavior and program uptake. This will highlight the rural-urban and adolescent-young adult gaps. We argue for participatory action research (PAR) approaches to co-design context-specific interventions and propose a multilevel strategy spanning schools, antenatal care, and community platforms. We present a conceptual framework linking literacy domains to improved dietary quality and NCD prevention, and outline priorities for measurement and policy integration in India.