Microcredit Programme Participation and Household Food Security in Rural Bangladesh

Lack of access to credit prevents poor households in developing countries from diversifying into income‐generating activities that could safeguard them against unforeseen shocks and seasonality, leaving them susceptible to food deprivation, even when aggregate food supplies are adequate. Microcredit programmes help these households to access financial capital that could help improve their food security situation. We examine how microcredit affects different measures of food security; namely, household calorie availability, dietary diversity indicators and anthropometric status of women of reproductive age (15–49 years) and children under the age of 5 years. We find that microcredit programme participation increases calorie availability both at the intensive and extensive margins, but does not improve dietary diversity and only has mixed effects on the anthropometric measures. We also find that the effect of microcredit participation on food security may be non‐linear in which participation initially has either no effect on food security or may actually worsen it, before improving it in the longer run. Our results help to explain why existing short‐term evaluations of microcredit sometimes do not show any positive effects.     

豆渣膳食纤维饼干最佳制作工艺配方研究

本文在普通饼干的基础配方上,添加豆渣粉、全麦粉、低聚果糖等原料,以提高膳食纤维含量以及适口性为主要目的,研制出富含大豆纤维的高膳食纤维饼干。通过单因素试验和正交试验,以感官评定、质构硬度和营养价值等指标对其进行综合评价,确定豆渣膳食纤维饼干最佳配方为:低筋面粉100 g、全麦粉45 g,豆渣粉35 g,油脂40 g,白砂糖15 g,低聚果糖10 g,食盐0.4 g,鸡蛋5 g,小苏打1 g。按照此配方生产出的高膳食纤维饼干,色泽为均匀的金黄色,且具有豆香味,甜度均匀,口感细腻酥脆。     

脂肪与人体健康关系的的辩证分析

脂肪作为6大营养素之一,在人体中发挥着重要的生理作用,但摄入过多易导致肥胖、心脑血管疾病等健康问题,危害人体健康.因此,正确的脂肪摄入对人体至关重要.本文简要分析了脂肪与人体健康之间的辩证关系,简述脂肪的正确摄取方式,为人们保持健康体质提供简要依据.     

Poverty and fat consumption: Education poor or income poor?

In this paper, we question the role of added fats on health disparities in the French case and its policy implications. Since low-status populations are proven to have more nutritional pathologies, can we evidence fat consumption specificity in poor populations? We first verify the strong sensitivity of fat consumption to income and education, criteria which both characterize deprived populations. We estimate a demand system taking into account the selection issue. For this we propose a modification of the Shonkwiler and Yen's procedure which, unlike Heckman's, allows participation on every market of products to be controlled for. We use the latter procedure on a set of seven fat categories which have different, including opposite, health attributes. Our results show that segmentation following income and/or education essentially affects price elasticities. This offers different perspectives for health policies. Controlling fat consumption through prices appears easier among low-income households than among low-education households.     

Agricultural production and children's diets: evidence from rural Ethiopia

We study the relationship between pre‐school children's food consumption and household agricultural production. Using a large household survey from rural Ethiopia, we find that increasing household production diversity leads to considerable improvements in children's dietary diversity. However, we also document how this nonseparability of consumption and production does not hold for households that have access to food markets. These findings imply that nutrition‐sensitive agricultural interventions that push for market integration are likely to be more effective in reducing under‐nutrition than those promoting production diversity.     

Canadian Dietary Fat Substitutions, 1955–93, and Coronary Heart Disease Costs

In this paper, we use a prevalence-based, cost-of-illness approach to estimate the impact of change in dietary fat intake on coronary heart disease (CHD) costs in Canada. To this end, we review the clinical studies that have examined the relationship between fatty acid consumption and serum cholesterol levels. We estimate the increase in consumption of less saturated vegetable oils, which displaced some of the animal fats in the Canadian diet between 1955 and 1993, was responsible for an estimated 10.1% reduction in the incidence of CHD in Canada. This implies ex post a $832 million reduction in direct and indirect CHD costs in 1993. To put it another way, if Canadians had retained their 1955 diet in 1993, CHD costs would have been $832 million greater. Since many of these costs are external to marketplace, the magnitude of these numbers suggests a need to include health costs in the economic analysis of policies that affect fatty acid intake.     

食品中膳食纤维测定方法的改进

以小米和荞麦粉为原料，同时使用改进后的酶重法和国家标准测定方法进行方法比对试验，结果表明，用改进后的酶重量法检测食品中膳食纤维含量结果的RSD高于国家标准方法，说明改进后方法测得的食品中膳食纤维的数据精重复性好、精密度高。不同实验员在相同条件下得到的数据基本一致。     

Can mobile phones improve nutrition among pastoral communities? Panel data evidence from Northern Kenya

The digital revolution and the ongoing dissemination of mobile phones carry several prospects for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Food insecurity and low dietary quality remain major issues among African smallholders. Mobile phones could potentially facilitate access to food markets and thus improve food security and nutrition, but research on such types of effects remains scarce. In this study, we analyze whether mobile phones improve dietary quality among pastoral communities in Northern Kenya. We use six rounds of household panel data covering the period between 2009 and 2015. During this period, mobile phone ownership in the sample increased from less than 30% to more than 70%. Regression models with household fixed effects allow robust estimation while reducing potential issues of unobserved heterogeneity. The estimates show that mobile phone adoption and use are positively and significantly associated with dietary diversity. The effects are particularly large for frequent mobile phone users. We also examine the underlying mechanisms. Mobile phone use improves dietary diversity mainly through better access to purchased foods. These results encourage the promotion of mobile phone technologies as a valuable tool for nutritional improvements, especially in remote rural settings with poor access to food markets.     

Dietary patterns and body mass indices among adults in Korea: evidence from pseudo panel data

The debate over the association between dietary patterns and obesity has not been settled in the literature. Some studies suggest that there are significant differences in mean body mass index across dietary patterns whereas other studies refute that result. The objective of this study is to test whether dietary patterns have a significant effect on body mass index in Korean adults when controlling for calorie intake and several sociodemographic factors. We present new evidence derived from pseudo panel data created from a series of cross‐sections. Our results from the pseudo panel analysis show that some of the dietary patterns that were identified from the Korean adults’ food intake survey have a significant effect on body mass index. Specifically, males with the “beef and processed food” (P < 0.05), or “pork and alcohol” (P < 0.05) dietary pattern had significantly higher BMIs, whereas females with the “fast food” (P < 0.1) or “ramen and bakery” (P < 0.01) dietary pattern had higher BMI.     

膳食调节为导向下血糖调控食品开发研究

随着经济的快速发展,人们对于健康饮食的重视程度越来越高,不规律的饮食习惯对人们的身体健康造成了非常严重的影响,而糖尿病也成为了继心脑血管疾病、肿瘤之后的第三大慢性疾病。本文对膳食调节和糖尿病进行了系统分析和综述,介绍了血糖调控食品的研究进展,探讨了未来血糖调控食品的开发方向,以为膳食调节为导向下血糖调控食品开发提供参考。     

大豆膳食纤维改性及在烘焙食品中的应用研究

膳食纤维广泛存在于植物中,其主要功能是降低肠道中胆固醇,预防便秘,保护体内有益菌群,排除体内废物.在大豆加工过程中,会产生大量的豆渣,其主要成分就是膳食纤维.本文具体介绍了大豆膳食纤维,并就大豆膳食纤维的改性进行深入研究,具体分析大豆膳食纤维改性在面包类、饼干类、蛋糕类烘焙产品中的应用.     

高膳食纤维濑粉工艺及特性研究

为研究高膳食纤维濑粉的最佳工艺,本试验以大米粉和玉米粉为主要原料,菊粉和魔芋胶为辅料,通过单因素试验和正交试验对濑粉配方进行优化。结果表明,高膳食纤维濑粉的工艺参数为大米粉∶玉米粉=1∶4、菊粉添加量6.5%、魔芋胶添加量2%,测定最优组的濑粉与纯大米制作的濑粉的理化指标,经比较得出高膳食纤维濑粉的品质更佳。     

The nutrition transition and agricultural transformation: a Preston curve approach

The nutrition transition in diets and health is closely tied to other aspects of economic development, including agricultural transformation and urbanization as well as demographic change and epidemiological transition from infectious to noncommunicable disease. Over time, dietary patterns typically shift from widespread inadequacy of many foods and nutrients, especially for children and mothers, into surplus energy intake and rising obesity with continued inadequacy of healthier foods. Diet‐related diseases remain the largest single cause of premature death and disability in all regions. This article combines food availability and dietary intake data from more than 100 countries over 30 years with a wide range of other evidence to characterize the nutrition transition and its association with changes in agricultural production and the food environment, asking how future dietary patterns might be steered toward healthier outcomes as national incomes grow.     

中国西南贫困山区道路与农户食物获得能力——基于贵州住户调查数据的分析

本文采用国内外研究最常用的3d—24h膳食回顾法,调查贵州普定县随机抽取的3个行政村8个自然村的全户数据,运用多元回归方程分析西南贫困山区道路是否会影响其农户食物获得能力。研究发现,调查地区农民的基本温饱问题尽管已经能够得到基本保障,但农民的营养结构还不太合理,蛋白质摄入量普遍不足,膳食质量有待进一步提高;居住地离集贸市场越远、道路状况越差,农民食物的多样性及膳食综合评价得分(DDP分值)越差。     

Home gardens,household nutrition and income in rural farm households in Odisha,India

Home gardens have been an integral part of the recent food-based interventions aimed at stimulating changes in dietary patterns and improving nutrition. However, evidence of their effects on food security, dietary quality, child anthropometry and incomes is limited, particularly among vulnerable populations groups. Using panel data from a sample of approximately 1900 households from vulnerable population groups in Odisha, India, difference-in-differences and other econometric techniques, we analyse the effects of home gardens on food security, dietary quality, child anthropometry and income. On average, home gardens contribute to better household food security, higher dietary quality of men and women but do not contribute to higher children's dietary quality and anthropometry. Also, home gardens increase monthly per adult equivalent incomes by 37% and reduce the prevalence of poverty by 11.7 percentage points. Quantile regression results suggest that home gardens enhance food security and incomes in all quantiles, but richer farmers benefit more than poorer farmers. Overall, home gardens can enhance household food security, dietary quality of men and women, and income gains among vulnerable farming population groups, but they may not suffice to improve child dietary quality and anthropometry.     

Does food market modernisation lead to improved dietary diversity and diet quality for urban Vietnamese households?

This study investigates the possible mechanisms through which modern food markets may affect Vietnamese households’ dietary diversity and diet quality using data from a survey of 1,700 urban households with seven‐day food recall. We calculate Household Dietary Diversity Scores to measure dietary diversity, and use consumption frequencies of micronutrients (vitamin A and heme iron) and a macronutrient (protein) to create a household measure of diet quality. We estimate a Poisson regression model using a two‐step control function approach to address the potential endogeneity of our key explanatory variable, modern market food expenditure shares. Higher modern market food expenditure share is positively and significantly associated with consumption frequency of heme iron, but there are no significant associations with consumption of vitamin A and protein. We further explore indirect linkages between food expenditure shares and dietary diversity, which in turn, may be linked to household diet quality. Results from a system of equations show that the food expenditure share variable has no significant relationship with dietary diversity, but dietary diversity is positively and significantly associated with diet quality. Our results indicate that alone, policies which encourage ‘food market modernisation’ are not enough to improve diet quality in urban Vietnam.     

Food consumption impacts of adherence to dietary norms in the United States: a quantitative assessment

Promotion of adherence to healthy-eating norms has become an important element of nutrition policy in the United States and other developed countries. We assess the potential consumption impacts of adherence to a set of recommended dietary norms in the United States using a mathematical programming approach. We find that adherence to recommended dietary norms would involve significant changes in diets, with large reductions in the consumption of fats and oils along with large increases in the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and cereals. Compliance with norms recommended by the World Health Organization for energy derived from sugar would involve sharp reductions in sugar intakes. We also analyze how dietary adjustments required vary across demographic groups. Most socio-demographic characteristics appear to have relatively little influence on the pattern of adjustment required to comply with norms. Income levels have little effect on required dietary adjustments. Education is the only characteristic to have a significant influence on the magnitude of adjustments required. The least educated rather than the poorest have to bear the highest burden of adjustment. Our analysis suggests that fiscal measures like nutrient-based taxes may not be as regressive as commonly believed. Dissemination of healthy-eating norms to the less educated will be a key challenge for nutrition policy.     

Context matters: Oil palm production and women's dietary diversity in the tropical forest of Cameroon

Oil palm is one of the most rapidly expanding food and cash crops in many tropical regions with significant environmental implications, but also economic gains. Previous analyses have established that this expansion is associated with changing gender roles and time allocation for women. Time allocation is an important determinant of maternal and child nutrition as well as well-being. We use a rich farm household survey from a native oil palm production hotspot, Cameroon, to examine the associations between oil palm production and women's dietary diversity. Using different estimation and identification strategies with some sensitivity checks, we show that oil palm is associated with lower dietary diversity for women, measured as the minimum dietary diversity for women and the minimum adequacy diversity diet. We explore heterogeneity in the various food groups consumed by women and show that oil palm production is associated with lower consumption of mainly pulses, fruits and vegetables. These findings contrast with the literature that has established some positive dietary diversity implications of oil palm expansion in Southeast Asia. We carefully discuss these findings and argue that context matters and may explain these differences. Particularly, we show that oil palm production is negatively associated with farm production diversity in Cameroon. Notwithstanding, we also confirm previous findings that highlight that oil palm production is associated with higher income. These insights add to the debate on the implications of oil palm expansion in tropical environments. Moreover, they can guide policy in designing more tailored interventions that address nutrition issues and improve rural development.     

Sibling Differences in School Attendance and Child Labour in Ethiopia

This paper examines the effects of sibling composition on children's school attendance and participation in market and domestic work in Ethiopia. The major finding is that earlier-born males in rural areas are more likely to attend school than their younger siblings. A similar effect is apparent for rural females and urban children as well, though it is not as robust to varying estimation methods and sensitivity tests. In both areas, the chances of participation in market work are higher for older children, particularly males, while in domestic work, which remains largely the domain of female children, being an earlier-born girl also increases the odds of working. These effects of birth order on work are largely unaffected by the gender of the younger siblings or by the age difference with the last child.     

中国居民膳食虚拟水消费的区域特征分析

结合信息熵、锡尔指数统计方法与空间数据分析方法,探讨中国膳食虚拟水消费的区域特征,得到主要结论:(1)东、中、西部的膳食虚拟水消费结构均衡度略有上升,东部地区的膳食虚拟水消费结构更趋多元化,中部次之、西部最低。(2)各类膳食虚拟水消费结构差异对地区差异的贡献份额基本稳定在一个数值上,且上下波动;东、中部地区植物性食物虚拟水消费的贡献份额呈下降的态势,西部反之,相比之下东、中、西部地区动物性食物虚拟水消费的贡献份额逐步增强。(3)根据冷热点区变化,发现中国膳食虚拟水消费的空间总体格局没有明显的跃迁,消费热点一直分布在东南沿海,而冷点区域同样在空间分布上表现出稳定的特征。