{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T04:10:10Z","timestamp":1791519010195,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,18]],"date-time":"2025-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758153600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Despite the economic significance of the tea industry in India, its female workers suffer from high rates of malnutrition, particularly anemia. A three-year intervention aimed to improve diets among tea workers through behavior change and supply-side strategies across tea estates in Assam, India. Key activities included community-based edutainment, cooking demonstrations, and a market-based approach to increase access to nutritious foods via door-to-door entrepreneurs or local shops.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study used a mixed method, repeated cross-sectional design. Baseline (Feb\u2013Mar 2021) and endline (Mar\u2013Apr 2023) data were collected via household surveys (989 tea workers, 66 clusters), 20 key informant interviews, and 10 focus group discussions. A multi-stage sampling design selected 30 estates, 66 divisions, and 15 households per division. Women aged 15\u201349 were the primary respondents. Monitoring data tracked coverage and outputs. Propensity score matching controlled for differences in selected households.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The estimated intervention effect was a 38.3 percent increase in the consumption of vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables and a 13.2 percentage point increase in the consumption of fortified cooking oil. Overall, this resulted in a 28.2 percentage point increase in the proportion of women meeting a minimally diverse diet. Some differences were seen across the market-based models.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The intervention\u2019s combination of supply-side innovations and behavior change efforts was effective and highlighted the potential for market-based approach to positively transform food environments in low-income settings. Future research should explore the long-term sustainability of such market-based interventions in improving nutritious foods consumption.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2025.1608153","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,18]],"date-time":"2025-09-18T04:14:10Z","timestamp":1758168850000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Improving diet quality for female workers through market innovations: evidence from Assam\u2019s tea estates"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Shantanu","family":"Das","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Akash","family":"Porwal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anshita","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fred","family":"Wangila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eric","family":"Djimeu Wouabe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carrel","family":"Fokou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aishwarya","family":"Choubey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kris","family":"Woltering","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mduduzi","family":"Mmbuya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christina","family":"Nyhus Dhillon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7776","DOI":"10.17645\/si.7776","article-title":"Space and place precarity in the global south: the case of tea garden workers in Assam SI","volume":"12","author":"Kalarivayil","year":"2024","journal-title":"Soc Inclus"},{"key":"ref2","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1007\/978-81-322-1994-1_15","article-title":"Has Indian tea plantation sector weathered the crisis? 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