Expert elicitation database capturing diversity and cultural drivers of food choice and nutritional implications in eastern India

Two expert elicitation workshops were conducted in 2017 to capture the diversity and cultural drivers of food choice of low- and middle- income households in the states of West Bengal and Odisha in eastern India. Experts representing the fields of nutrition, home science, food technology, and food service industry were invited to participate. Following the “gastronomic systems research” framework, the food experts determined the eating occasions, dishes and ingredients that would culturally define the target population in their respective states. To zoom in further on the nutritional implications, one of the two states was selected for further in-depth study by expanding the list of dishes and conducting nutritional analysis. The approach is elaborated in the article “Capturing diversity and cultural drivers of food choice in eastern India” [1]. The workshop generated two databases: (i) “List of dishes and ingredients from expert elicitation workshop” and (ii) “Database of eastern Indian dishes”. The former was used to differentiate the eating occasions based on dishes, the proportion of dishes based on dish classification, and the dietary diversity score of each occasion. The dietary diversity score was then used to analyze the nutritional composition of dishes in terms of three macro nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates and fat in each eating occasion. The databases provide a useful baseline for nutritionists, policymakers, and food system actors to design nutrition intervention strategies for the purpose of developing planetary health diets in eastern India.