Will Eating More Vegetables Trim Our Body Weight?

The purpose of the study is to examine the dietary consequences of greater consumption of vegetables by type and source. Dietary outcomes include calorie intake, USDA’s healthy eating index (HEI) scores, and intakes of fiber and sodium. We fit a fixed-effects model with two-day intake data from the 2003-4 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Our results suggest that the effect of vegetable consumption on diet varies greatly by type of vegetables and where the food is prepared. As stated in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, ―Eating [vegetables and fruits] instead of higher calorie foods can help adults and children achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Our results support the statement and call for attention to how to incorporate vegetables into healthy foods, both at home and away from home.Consumption, Calories, Fruits and Vegetables, Fixed-effects, NHANES, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption by Low-Income Americans: Would a Price Reduction Make a Difference?

Americans’ diets, particularly those of low-income households, fall short of Government recommendations in the quantity of fruits and vegetables consumed. Some proposals suggest that a price subsidy for those products would encourage low-income Americans to consume more of them. This study estimated that a 10-percent subsidy would encourage low-income Americans to increase their consumption of fruits by 2.1-5.2 percent and vegetables by 2.1-4.9 percent. The annual cost of such a subsidy for low-income Americans would be about $310 million for fruits and$270 million for vegetables. And most would still not meet Federal dietary recommendations.Price subsidy, demand elasticity, food consumption, fruits and vegetables, low income, Homescan Data, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and MyPyramid, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis,

ESTIMATION OF FOOD DEMAND AND NUTRIENT ELASTICITIES FROM HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA

A methodology for estimating a demand system from household survey data is developed and applied to the 1987-88 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey data. The empirical results are sets of estimated demand elasticities for households segmented with different income levels. In addition, we apply these demand elasticities to estimate the implied nutrient elasticities for low-income households. The estimation results are useful in evaluating some food policy and program effects related to households of a specific income level.Demand elasticities, household survey data, food quality effect, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

A SAMPLE SELECTION APPROACH TO CENSORED DEMAND SYSTEMS

A censored demand system estimator is proposed by extending the sample selection model of Heckman. Censoring is governed by a selection mechanism which avoids the restricitve Tobit parameterization. Results of application to household consumption of beverages suggest the estimator produces slightly different elasticity estimates from the Tobit estimator. Demands for beverages are nearly unitary elastic, and net substitution is an obvious pattern.beverages, censoring, sample selection, Translog demand system, Demand and Price Analysis,

Consumer Knowledge, Food Label Use and Grain Consumption

Responding to mounting evidence of the association between whole-grain consumption and a reduced risk of heart problems and other diseases as well as body weight maintenance, the U.S. Government has strongly encouraged its citizens to increase consumption of whole grains. However, compared against the 2005 Federal dietary recommendations, in 1994-96 only 6 percent of Americans met the current recommended whole-grain consumption. To narrow this huge gap between actual and recommended consumption of whole grains, an effective nutrition education campaign is needed. A demand system with two censored consumption equations and two endogenous knowledge and attitude variables is estimated to investigate the factors that affect the consumption of whole and refined grains. The results can be used to help develop an effective education campaign in promoting consumption of whole grains in Americans' diets.Consumer/Household Economics,

EFFECTS OF FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS ON NUTRITION AND HEALTH: VOLUME 3, LITERATURE REVIEW

This report provides a comprehensive review and synthesis of published research on the impact of USDA's domestic food and nutrition assistance programs on participants' nutrition and health outcomes. The outcome measures reviewed include food expenditures, household nutrient availability, dietary intake, other measures of nutrition status, food security, birth outcomes, breastfeeding behaviors, immunization rates, use and cost of health care services, and selected nonhealth outcomes, such as academic achievement and school performance (children) and social isolation (elderly). The report is one of four volumes produced by a larger study that includes Volume 1, Research Design; Volume 2, Data Sources; Volume 3, Literature Review; and Volume 4, Executive Summary of the Literature Review. The review examines the research on 15 USDA food assistance programs but tends to focus on the largest ones for which more research is available: food stamps, school feeding programs, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Over half of USDA's budget - $41.6 billion in fiscal year 2003 - was devoted to food assistance and nutrition programs that provide low-income families and children with access to a healthy diet.Dietary intake, food expenditures, nutrient availability, nutrient intake, nutritional status, nutrition and health outcomes, USDA, Food Security and Poverty,

MODELING FRESH ORGANIC PRODUCE CONSUMPTION: A GENERALIZED DOUBLE-HURDLE MODEL APPROACH

Using actual retail data, this study is intended to profile consumers' social economic characteristics related to the growth of the fresh organic produce market with a generalized double-hurdle model. The nested test shows that the above model performs significantly better than Cragg's independent double-hurdle model and Tobit model.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The Impact of Food Away from Home on Adult Diet Quality

Food away from home (FAFH) has been associated with poor diet quality in many studies. It is difficult, however, to measure the effect of FAFH on diet quality since many unobserved factors, such as food preferences and time constraints, influence not just our choice of where to eat but also the nutritional quality of what we eat. Using data from 1994-96 and 2003-04, this study applies fixed-effects estimation to control for such unobservable influences and finds that, for the average adult, FAFH increases daily caloric intake and reduces diet quality. The effects vary depending on which meals are consumed away from home. On average, breakfast away from home decreases the number of servings of whole grains and dairy consumed per 1,000 calories and increases the percent of calories from saturated and solid fat, alcohol, and added sugar (SoFAAS) in a day. Dinner away from home reduces the number of servings of vegetables consumed per 1,000 calories for the average adult. Breakfast and lunch away from home increase calories from saturated fat and SoFAAS on average more among dieters than among nondieters. Some of the overall negative dietary effects decreased between 1994-96 and 2003-04, including those on whole grain, sodium, and vegetable consumption.Food away from home (FAFH), diet quality, 2005 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2005), fixed-effects, first-difference, Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), Health Economics and Policy,

Estimation of a Composite Food Demand System for the United States—A Revisit

We revisit the composite food demand system for the United States covering the period from 1953 to 2008. We were unable to produce elasticity measures that are as close or similar to those reported in Huang and Haidacher (1983), although the same demand system specification was employed. Our results based on the more recent data set of 1982-2008 show that most of the own-price elasticities are negative and statistically significant, varying from -.1861 (poultry) to -.9476 (nonfood). In general, the estimated own-price elasticities appear to be smaller in magnitude or more inelastic than previously reported. In contrast, we estimate the significant income elasticities for food vary from .5172 (dairy) to 4.6687 (fish), while Huang and Haidaicher (1983) report their income elasticities to vary from -.6343 (fruits) to .5748 (fats & oils). The estimated income elasticities for nonfood group appear to remain fairly constant among different studies, ranging from 1.0407 to1.2035.Differential-form demand system, iterative seemingly unrelated regression, Engel aggregation, Homogeneity, Symmetry, Uncompensated and compensated elasticities, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

EFFECTS OF FOOD ASSISTANCE AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS ON NUTRITION AND HEALTH, VOLUME 2, DATA SOURCES

This is the second of four reports completed by Abt Associates Inc., under the contract "The Nutrition and Health Outcome Study." This report is an evaluation of various data sources for their potential for analyzing the impacts of USDA's food assistance and nutrition programs (FANPs). Data sources are evaluated against three criteria: coverage of both program participants and nonparticipants; identification of participants and determination of eligibility among nonparticipants; and availability of impact measures. Each data source is classified into one of four categories: principal, potential, recognized, and insufficient. Principal and potential sources are discussed and profiled in this report.USDA Food Assistance and Nutrition Programs, data sources, program participation, nutrition outcomes, health outcomes, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,