Voices from the margins: a scoping review of Dalit women’s nutrition and food security in rural India

Abstract

Purpose This scoping review synthesizes interdisciplinary literature to map factors shaping nutrition and food security among Dalit women in rural India, examining how caste-based exclusion, economic deprivation, and patriarchal norms create an intensified burden of malnutrition. Design/methodology/approach Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Academic Search Ultimate, Sociological Abstracts) were searched for literature published January 2000–December 2024. Using the PCC framework, 28 studies focusing on Dalit women in rural India and their nutritional status, dietary practices, or food program access were included. Thematic analysis was conducted manually. Findings Evidence reveals Dalit women’s malnutrition as a direct outcome of structural oppression. Caste-based untouchability restricts access to safe water and diverse foods. Entrenched patriarchy enforces women’s position as last and least fed within households, deepening micronutrient deficiencies. Government schemes (PDS, ICDS) frequently reproduce caste and gender discrimination, failing to dismantle structural barriers. Nutrition transition promotes processed foods as aspirational, while economic constraints create a paradox: persistent undernutrition alongside emerging health risks, where healthy traditional foods are stigmatized yet processed alternatives remain unattainable. Originality/value This review provides a novel synthesis through a consolidated framework of Dalit feminist theory, political economy of caste and symbolic anthropology of food. It explicitly models the cyclical nature of nutritional marginalization and argues that nutrition policy’s failure to adopt intersectionality perpetuates nutritional injustices.