Korean mothers’ food choice behavioral intent for children: An examination of the interaction effects of food type,household income,and healthism

This study identifies how economic factors, like household income, and psychological factors, like healthism, affect the food choice behavioral intent of mothers in Korea. We designed a 2 (type of food: sweet snack as hedonic food vs. milk as utilitarian food) × 2 (household income: low vs. high) × 2 (healthism: low vs. high) stimulus. The participants were Korean mothers raising children in Seoul, Korea. Participants were exposed to an advertisement for milk as the utilitarian food and a sweet snack as the hedonic food and then asked for favorability and purchase intention toward each type of food and about participants’ household income and concerns regarding health. Our study found high-income mothers were not influenced by food type, but low-income mothers were. Lower-income mothers were more willing to purchase utilitarian foods than hedonic foods. High-healthism mothers did not favor hedonic foods, regardless of household income, while low-healthism, high-income mothers favored hedonic foods more than low-healthism, low-income mothers. In contrast, low-healthism mothers did not favor utilitarian foods, regardless of their household income, while high-healthism, low-income mothers favored utilitarian foods more than high-healthism, high-income mothers. The results of our study may assist the government and marketers to understand how healthism and household income affect food choice behavioral intent.     

Diet quality of Atlantic families headed by single mothers.

PURPOSE: As part of a larger study on food insecurity and dietary adequacy of low-income lone mothers and their children in Atlantic Canada, we examined diet quality among household members. METHODS: Network sampling for 'difficult to sample' populations was used to identify mothers living below the poverty line and alone with at least two children under age 14. Trained dietitians administered 24-hour dietary recalls weekly for one month to mothers on the dietary intake of themselves and their children. We calculated Healthy Eating Index category scores for eligible mothers (129) and children (303) using Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating and the Nutrition Recommendations for Canadians. RESULTS: Diet quality of low-income lone mothers was poor (35.5%) or in need of improvement (64.5%), with no mother having a good diet. The diet quality of children varied by age, with 22.7% of children aged one to three having a good diet or needing improvement (74.6%), 2.1% of children aged four to eight and no child aged nine to 14 having a good diet, while the diets of about 85% of older children in both age categories needed improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Younger children seem to be protected from poor quality diets in households with limited resources to acquire food.     

Impacts of HIV / AIDS on food consumption and wild food use in rural South Africa

HIV/AIDS can affect household food consumption in many ways, including through reductions in availability and quality of labour, reductions in earned income, and increased expenditure on medications. In rural South Africa, these negative effects can be buffered by social safety net programs provided by government and collection of wild foods. Despite some acknowledgement of the potential safety net role of wild foods, however, their contribution relative to other food sources in the context of HIV/AIDS remains underexplored. Here we report empirical findings from two rural communities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to characterise food sources, intake and calories from 68 HIV/AIDS afflicted households and 87 non-afflicted households every quarter over 12 months. Results show that diets were moderately well-balanced though limited in variety, with cereal items contributing 52 % to total calorie intake. The bulk of food consumed by households was purchased, with supplementation from own production, collected wild vegetables and collected wild fruits. Up to 20 % of respondents from both HIV/ AIDS afflicted and non-afflicted households had insufficient daily caloric intake. Multivariate analyses show that, all else equal, individuals living in households afflicted by HIV/AIDS consumed fewer calories, had less diverse diets, and were more dependent on wild foods than those living in non-afflicted households. Given the detrimental effects of HIV/AIDS on income and home production, wild foods represent a free and readily available food source for vulnerable households.     

Food insecurity and coping strategies in South-West Nigeria

Food insecurity and coping strategies in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State in the south-western part of Nigeria were studied by means of a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected from 80 households, consisting of 321 members, with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire, and were analysed using a Food Insecurity Index. The overall incidence of food insecurity was 58.8 % while the depth of food insecurity, expressed as the average percent increase in calories required to meet the recommended daily requirement, was 19.5 %. Thus, the study confirmed the widespread existence of household food insecurity but with mild severity. Food insecurity indices declined with higher levels of income and educational attainment but increased with household size and number of dependants. Incidence of food insecurity was slightly higher among female headed than male headed households but the depth and severity were lower. Eating less expensive and less preferred food and reducing portion sizes were the three most common coping strategies for combating short-term food shortages. Policies that would enhance income earning capacity of household members and their access to higher education, well-focused gender specific interventions and promotion of backyard farming are advocated.     

Does monetary poverty reflect caloric intake?

The use of expenditure surveys to measure food insecurity is widely discussed. In this study, we investigate food insecurity in terms of monetary poverty. Using a Malian survey that incorporates exceptionally detailed information on food consumption, we estimate that 35 % of the households are in a paradoxical situation, some poor households managing to cover their caloric requirements by eating cheap calories and some non-poor households not doing so because they consume expensive calories and/or face constraints such as the obligation to share meals with visitors and high expenditure on health care or transportation. These findings highlight precautions that need to be taken when measuring food insecurity through monetary income or expenditure indicators.     

Tobacco spending and children in low income households

OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of tobacco use in creating financial hardship for New Zealand (NZ) low income households with children. DATA: The 1996 NZ census (smoking prevalence by household types), Statistics NZ (household spending surveys 1988-98), and NZ Customs (tobacco released from bond 1988-98). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of children in households with smokers and < or = 15,000 NZ dollars gross income per adult. Proportion of spending on tobacco of second lowest equivalised household disposable income decile and of solo parent households. RESULTS: In < or = 15,000 NZ dollars gross income per adult households with both children and smokers, there were over 90,000 children, or 11% of the total population aged less than 15 years. Enabling second lowest income decile households with smokers to be smoker-free would on average allow an estimated 14% of the non-housing budgets of those households to be reallocated. CONCLUSIONS: The children in low income households with smokers need to be protected from the financial hardship caused by tobacco use. This protection could take the form of more comprehensive government support for such households and stronger tobacco control programmes. A reliance on tobacco price policy alone to deter smokers is likely to have mixed outcomes-for example, increased hardship among some of these households. The challenge for tobacco control is to move from a sole focus on "doing good" towards incorporating the principle of "doing no harm".     

A Recipe Book of Traditional Sri Lankan Food

Although a number of various traditional foods and diversity of cooking styles and techniques were available in Sri Lanka, today most of them are getting lost as a result of ‘modernization’ dietary patterns. However, in Sri Lanka,a very limited number of researcheshave been conducted on traditional foods. Therefore, surveys about traditional foods and dishes are essential to cut down many problems related with the modernized foods and to increase use of locally available food sources. In Sri Lanka, there are many recipe books but they do not give an idea about nutrition composition. The survey was conducted to develop a recipe book by including traditional Sri Lankan food recipes and their nutrition composition. Different food recipes were collected from adult women in different areas (08 districts) by home visits, face to face interviews and through telephone calls. Further, available traditional recipes were collected by reviewing the recipe books and searching internet. The amount of ingredients for solid foods were measured by using household measures and home scale and expressed as grams. Liquid foods were measured by measuring cylinder and household measures and expressed as millilitres. The recipes which were taken from telephone calls were prepared at the University dietetics laboratory. Nutrition compositions of recipes were calculated using the Food Base 2000 software. The developed recipe book consists of 50 recipes of Sri Lankan traditional foods, the method of preparation as well as the nutritional composition. The recipes in the book have been presented under five food categories; cereal based foods, sweets, dishes, mallum and kola kenda / herbal drinks. Thus, the developed recipe book provides different recipes with way of preparation and nutrition composition of them. Therefore, this can be used as an educational tool for menu planning.     

Does adopting legume-based cropping practices improve the food security of small-scale farm households? Panel survey evidence from Zambia

This study provides empirical evidence on whether and how integrating legumes into production systems affects measures of small-scale farm households’ food availability and access. We used nationally representative household panel survey data from Zambia to estimate the differential effects on cereal-growing households of incorporating grain legumes into their farms via cereal-legume intercropping, cereal-legume rotation, and other means (such as legume monocropping). Specifically, we tested the hypotheses that with all else equal, cereal-growing small-scale farm households that integrate grain legumes into their production systems have: (1) more availability of food as measured by total production of calories and protein; (2) more income from crop production or sales; and (3) increased food access. Results suggest that cereal-legume rotation was associated with statistically significant increases in production of calories and protein by a household as well as their gross value of crop sales; it may also improve their food access. In contrast, we found little evidence of statistically significant effects of cereal-legume intercropping and other forms of legume production on household food availability and access in Zambia.     

Conspicuous Consumption and Rural Poverty in Farming Community: An Empirical Investigation based on Two DS Divisions in Kurunegala District in Sri Lanka

Researchers and Practitioners have been interested in the field of conspicuous consumption (CC) for the past few decades. Much of these works have been concerned with defining and measuring the CC tendencies among leisure class. Less effort has been directed toward determining the factors that underlie the tendency to consume conspicuously by ‘less income earners’, such as small-scale farmers (SCFs). This paper examines empirically the relationship between CC tendencies and rural poverty in farming community in Kurunegala district based on the hypothesis that there is a strong relationship between the CC and status of poverty among farmers. The reasons for selecting the Kurunegala district for analysis were, amongst the others: it is the third biggest district in Sri Lanka with 30 Divisional Secretariats; the nominal poverty line is Rs. 3,667, which is Rs.328 below the national average; as a percentage of total population of Sri Lanka, it has 7.3% of the population, and the majority of them are engage in agriculture. This study identifies several different types of circumstances and sensory stimuli that serve as cues for triggering CC. A wide range of journal databases and books were referred to review the works of various researchers in this field. 260 households who can provide information on these criteria were selected from two Divisional Secretariats, namely: (1) Galgamuwa, and (2) Nikaweratiya using Stratified Random Sampling techniques. Each household was interviewed, personally and in-depth, with the help of a semi-structured interview schedule. The ordered Logistic regression techniques were used for statistical analysis. The results suggest that there is a significant relationship between CC and poverty among farming community. The paper will be useful for marketing practitioners and researchers towards comprehensive understanding of the CC in farming community.     

Food security in a remittance based economy

We interviewed 395 subsistence farming households from Chitwan, Nepal in order to identify the impact of remittances and other explanatory variables on child, adult, and household food security. The highest category of the IV - ordered probit regression models with cluster robust standard errors indicated that the food security status of households, adults and children was explained by gender and age of household head, adoption of conservation agricultural technology, number of fruit trees, and income from agricultural and livestock sources. Additional variables affecting only children’s food security were the adoption of hybrid rice or maize varieties and the wage income or salary earned within the district, whereas an additional variable affecting only household and adult food security was the wage income earned outside the district. Households receiving international remittances were more food secure than those households that did not receive such remittances.     

Adaptation to Climate Change by Smallholder Farmers in Rural Communities: Evidence from Sri Lanka

The agricultural sector plays a key role in Sri Lankan economy, whose major source of livelihoods is smallholder farming in paddy and vegetable cultivation which is highly vulnerable to climate changes having negative impact on food security. To overcome the welfare losses, the smallholder farmers need to identify the changes in climatic variables and adjust to their farming practices to cope up with the climate change. Thus, this study examines how rural smallholder farmers in different agro-ecological zones in Sri Lanka perceive climate change and accordingly adapt to it in their agricultural practices. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a random sample of 125 farmer households distributed in most vulnerable four agro-ecological zones namely, Belihuloya, Ihala Galagama, Mulgama and Kosgama in up country inter mediate zone. The study shows that all the respondents have observed rising trends in temperature and winds and lack of adequate rainfall during last twenty years and in response they have grown short season crops as the main farming practice to adapt to minimize the potential losses on their yields. The results of the logistic regression revealed that social economic factors, environmental factors, institutional factors and the economic structure influence farmers’ choice of adaptation methods to climate change. The size of the household, income, education, accessibility to climate information through television and radio, being a member in farmers’ group, location of the land, crop variety, access to formal loans and distance to input markets had significantly affected adaptation. For instance the farmers who grow beans as the major crop to adapt to climate change has 94% probability with compared to those farmers who do not grow other crops whereas the farmers who come to know the changing patterns of the climate through television and radio have a higher probability (94%) of adaptation to the climate change than those who use other media. Sri Lankan government requires facilitating the smallholder farmers to overcome the constraints in which they face in using adaptation methods to climate change so that the welfare of the farmers and growth of the agricultural sector can be ensured.     

Targeting performance of three large-scale,nutrition-oriented social programs in Central America and Mexico

This study evaluated whether three nutrition-oriented programs in Central America and Mexico have been successful in targeting those households most vulnerable to undernutrition and poverty. For each country, nationally representative data sets were used to estimate cutoff points dividing the population into 10 equal-sized groups according to child anthropometric measurements (age-standardized height) and household income (per capita household expenditures). Households meeting eligibility criteria were then assessed using special baseline surveys or national data obtained before implementation of the program. Children in these households were classified according to national deciles of height-for-age, and households were classified according to expenditure deciles. In spite of markedly differing targeting strategies, each of the programs was well targeted, with 45% (Honduras and Mexico) and 52% (Nicaragua) of children in eligible households coming from the lowest two deciles of the national distributions, and virtually none from the upper two deciles. Similar results pertained to household income. These experiences demonstrate that vulnerable households can be targeted relatively straightforwardly, and that the need to do this does not in every case imply household-level income screening.     

Iodine fortification is related to increased weight-for-age and birthweight in children in Asia

Severe iodine deficiency causes stunting and mental retardation in utero, but the relation between mild deficiency and child growth is not well known. The use of iodated salt in relation to anthropometric data was examined from recent survey data. After potential confounding factors had been controlled for, significant associations were seen in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The use of iodated salt was related to increased weight-for-age and mid-upper-arm circumference, most strongly in the second year of life, mainly affecting soft tissue (thinness). The relation with weight-for-age was greater among children of mothers with lower body mass index. The use of iodated salt was related to birthweight in Sri Lanka and in the Philippines, where iodized oil capsules given during pregnancy had a negative effect when used with high levels of iodine in salt. The associations generally were concentrated in large geographic areas, possibly because of interactions with other environmental factors (e.g., selenium and arsenic). The apparent growth response to iodine may reflect functional effects of mild deficiency, which is widespread, possibly including effects on brain development.     

Child's gender and household food insecurity are associated with stunting among young Pakistani children residing in urban squatter settlements

BACKGROUND: The nutritional status of children is a good indicator of the overall well-being of a society and reflects food security as well as existing health-care and environmental conditions. In Pakistan, it is estimated that nearly 40% to 50% of children under the age of five are stunted. Due to greater economic opportunities available to the urban population as compared to the rural, it was believed that economic resources existed in poor urban Pakistani households but that the households lacked the skills and knowledge to translate their resources into good care and feeding practices. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed 1) to assess the prevalent care and feeding practices among children aged 6 to 18 months residing in the squatter settlements of Karachi and 2) to identify care and feeding practices, as well as any other underlying factors, associated with stunting. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in eight settlements between October and December 2000. A total of 433 mothers of eligible children were interviewed with the use of structured questionnaires. Final analysis using multiple logistic regression was conducted on 399 mother-child pairs. RESULTS: Female children were nearly three times more likely to be stunted than male children. Households that were food insecure with hunger were also three times more likely than other households to have a stunted child. Lack of maternal formal schooling (adjusted prevalence odds ratio, 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 3.8) and large household size (adjusted prevalence odds ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 3.8) were also associated with stunting. Even though certain care and feeding practices were significant at the univariate level, they were not significant in the final multivariate analysis and so were excluded from the final model. CONCLUSIONS: In households where food insecurity exists, knowledge of care practices may not be sufficient, and interventions such as food subsidies must precede or accompany educational efforts. Further follow-up is required to explore the effect of gender differences on child care.     

Economic inequality and undernutrition in women: multilevel analysis of individual, household, and community levels in Cambodia

BACKGROUND: Many people in developing countries are still struggling to emerge from the realm of extreme poverty, where economic improvements tend to benefit a small, affluent group of the population and cause growing inequality in health and nutrition that affects the most vulnerable groups of the population, including women and children. OBJECTIVE: To examine how household and community economic inequality affects nutritional status in women using information on 6,922 nonpregnant women aged 15 to 49 years included in the 2000 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey. METHODS: Nutritional status is defined with the use of the body-mass index (BMI). BMI less than 18.5 kg/m2 is defined as undernourishment. The household wealth index was calculated from household ownership of durable assets and household characteristics. Community wealth is an average household wealth index at the community level. Household and community economic inequalities were measured by dividing the wealth index into quintiles. The effects of household and community economic inequality were estimated by multilevel analysis. RESULTS: Independently of community economic status and other risk factors, women in the poorest 20% of households are more likely to be undernourished than women in the richest 20% of households (RR = 1.63; p = .008). The results also show variation among communities in the nutritional status of women. Age, occupation, and access to safe sources of drinking water are significantly associated with women's nutritional status. CONCLUSIONS: Improving household income and creating employment opportunities for women, in particular poor women, may be a key to improving the nutritional status of women in Cambodia.     

Female-headed households and food insecurity in Brazil

The National Household Survey carried out in 2009 by Brazil??s bureau of the census contains information on a representative sample of 121,708 households. The questionnaire includes items that enable us to identify households that experience moderate and severe degrees of food insecurity. The results of logistic regression analyses support the hypothesis that the odds of food insecurity are higher among female-headed households compared to male-headed households. Net of statistical controls for region, urban residence, age, monthly per capita household income, and five indicators of the internal composition of the household, the odds of moderate and severe food insecurity are, respectively, 32?% and 16?% higher among households headed by women compared to households headed by men. Further analyses show that the likelihood of food insecurity increases with presence of young children 0?C10?years of age and older children 11?C18?years of age. The importance of intra-household characteristics is confirmed by results that show that the odds of both moderate and severe food insecurity increase with additional adult males but decrease with additional adult females. Evidence that the presence of adult females reduces food insecurity is consistent with studies of gender differences in household decision making which show that, compared to men, women??s spending patterns have a greater positive effect on the welfare of children and other members of the household. The conclusions are discussed in the context of the poverty and hunger alleviation initiatives in Brazil??s new social policy agenda.     

Hungry for tobacco: an analysis of the economic impact of tobacco consumption on the poor in Bangladesh

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the extent of tobacco expenditures in Bangladesh and to compare those costs with potential investment in food and other essential items. DESIGN: Review of available statistics and calculations based thereon. RESULTS: Expenditure on tobacco, particularly cigarettes, represents a major burden for impoverished Bangladeshis. The poorest (household income of less than $24/month) are twice as likely to smoke as the wealthiest (household income of more than $118/month). Average male cigarette smokers spend more than twice as much on cigarettes as per capita expenditure on clothing, housing, health and education combined. The typical poor smoker could easily add over 500 calories to the diet of one or two children with his or her daily tobacco expenditure. An estimated 10.5 million people currently malnourished could have an adequate diet if money on tobacco were spent on food instead. The lives of 350 children could be saved each day. CONCLUSION: Tobacco expenditures exacerbate the effects of poverty and cause significant deterioration in living standards among the poor. This aspect of tobacco use has been largely neglected by those working in poverty and tobacco control. Strong tobacco control measures could have immediate impact on the health of the poor by decreasing tobacco expenditures and thus significantly increasing the resources of the poor. Addressing the issue of tobacco and poverty together could make tobacco control a higher priority for poor countries.     

Urinary iodine concentration of pregnant women and female adolescents as an indicator of excessive iodine intake in Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND: Mild deficiencies and excesses of iodine have deleterious effects in both females and males. The iodine status of the population after implementation of the universal salt iodization program in Sri Lanka is not known. OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the iodine status of pregnant women and female adolescents, with urinary iodine concentration used as the measure of outcome. METHODS: The participants were 100 women in the first trimester of pregnancy and 99 female adolescents in Kuliyapitiya, Kurunegala District, North-Western Province, Sri Lanka. The urinary iodine concentration was measured in a casual urine sample from each subject. The iodate contents of salt samples collected from households of the adolescents participating in the study were also measured. RESULTS: The median urinary iodine concentration of 185.0 microg/L and the prevalence of values under 50 microg/L of only 1% among the pregnant women indicate adequate iodine intake and optimal iodine nutrition. The median urinary iodine concentration (213.1 microg/L) among female adolescents indicates a more than adequate iodine intake and a risk of iodine-induced hyperthyroidism. Approximately 8% and 4% of the adolescents and pregnant women, respectively, had urinary iodine concentrations in the range of mild iodine deficiency (51 to 100 microg/L). More than half of the adolescents (56%) and 39% of the pregnant women had urinary iodine concentrations higher than optimal. The median iodine content in salt samples was 12.7 ppm. Only 20.2% of the samples were adequately iodized, and 10.1% of the samples had very high iodine levels. CONCLUSIONS: Female adolescents and pregnant women had no iodine deficiency, but a considerable proportion of them, especially female adolescents, were at risk for iodine-induced hyperthyroidism. There is thus a need for proper monitoring of the salt iodization program to achieve acceptable iodine status.     

Smoking, standard of living, and poverty in China

Objectives: To analyse differences in smoking behaviour and smoking expenditures among low and high income households in China and the impact of smoking on standard of living of low income households in China. Methods: About 3400 urban and rural households from 36 townships/districts in southwest China were interviewed in 2002. Cross tabulations and regression analysis were used to examine the differences in major household expenditures, including food, housing, clothing, and education between households with smokers and without smokers. Results: Lower income households with smokers paid less per pack and smoked fewer cigarettes than higher income households with smokers. Poor urban households spent an average of 6.6% of their total expenditures on cigarettes; poor rural households spent 11.3% of their total expenditures on cigarettes. Conclusion: Reducing cigarette expenditures could release household resources to spend on food, housing, and other goods that improve living standards.     

Adoption and Factors Affecting on Adoption of Integrated Pest Management among Vegetable Farmers in Sri Lanka

The overuse and misuse of chemical pesticides has widely been reported in vegetable cultivation in Sri Lanka. While safer and environmental friendly pest and disease management methods such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are popular around the world, only little effort has been taken to promote IPM in Sri Lankan vegetable cultivation. Furthermore, farmers have not shown much interest on practicing IPM in vegetable cultivation. However, the level of IPM adoption by vegetable farmers and the factors influencing the adoption and strategies to promote IPM in vegetable cultivation have not been identified. Accordingly, this study was conducted to identify the level of IPM adoption and factors influencing the adoption of IPM in vegetable cultivation and to understand the strategies for promoting vegetable IPM in future. Primary data was collected by interviewing 290 farmer households. ‘Level of adoption’ and ‘farmers’ knowledge’ on nine practices used in IPM technique were tested and nine socio-economic variables were analyzed to identify the factors influencing the IPM adoption. Findings indicated that the main income source of the majority (68%) of respondents was from vegetable farming from which at least half of their household income was secured. A total of 47% farmers apply chemical pesticides before pests or diseases appear in the field as a routine activity, and without considering the ‘economic threshold level’. Although the majority (60%) of farmers have used the recommended dosage in spraying, mixing several pesticides when applying was common. According to the findings, although the term IPM was familiar to 44% of respondents, only 20% s had a certain level of understanding on the IPM technique. The adoption of IPM practices among farmers was not at a satisfactory level. Practices known and followed for a long time were better adopted compared to the practices which are relatively novel. Results also showed that despite the adoption of these practices, understanding of farmers regarding the benefits and the appropriate use of such practices was not at a satisfactory level. “Farmers’ knowledge on IPM” had a positive impact while the “proportionate income from vegetable cultivation” was negative on the level of IPM adoption. In addition, the results showed that gaps in policy and institutional setup, negative attitudes of farmers and officers on IPM were conduce for the lower adoption level of IPM in the vegetable cultivation.