Harmonizing data from the UK expenditure and food survey and the National food survey: an application to fruit and vegetable demand

Given the increasing obesity rates and incidence of diet-related ill health in western countries, unhealthy eating and food consumption have recently entered the policy agenda of most European governments and reliable information on food consumption patterns has become highly desirable for policy makers. The present work focuses on the UK which has experienced the most dramatic increase in obesity rates in Europe in the last 15 years. The papers illustrates the harmonization of two different sources of data on food consumption which has produced an unique multiple cross-sections dataset containing purchases information for more than 250 food items, recorded on about 6000 households each year, over 13 years (from 1997 to 2009). Potential helpfulness of the new dataset is here demonstrated through a preliminary analysis on fruit and vegetable consumption: a demand system for fruit and vegetables and price elasticities are estimated. The availability of this unique dataset clears the way to a large range of potential analysis which might result very informative for policy purposes

Diet quality and income in Rural and Urban China: evidence from the Health and Nutrition Survey

The specific objective of this paper is the investigation of the link between an improvement in Chinese households’ wealth and the quality of their diet and the role played by this relationship on the overall nutrition transition process. Better economic conditions mean a worsening of the diet in terms of higher energy intakes from fats, only partially compensated by higher fruit and vegetable intakes. China nutrition transition is going on and the rapid economic growth may lead to adverse health consequences if the negative effects of this transition will not be contrasted.Nutrition, diet quality, China, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Luck vs Skill in Gambling over the Recession. Evidence from Italy

We perform an econometric analysis of the gambling market in Italy over the recession (2009-2012), observing the consumption patterns in "luck" and "skill" games. We find a different effect between the early and late period of the crisis. Whereas gambling initially behaves as normal good, in the long run luck games increase with the worsening of economic conditions. Moreover, skill games are more persistent and influence luck games, but not the opposite. Skill players choose simple lottery games, but luck players cannot handle complex games. Our results provide insights on investment choices in financial markets among expert and naïve buyers

Eco labels and tourism flows: How much is a Blue Flag worth?

The rise in destination accessibility and the emergence of new market segments have increased the competition among tourism destinations, both at national and international level. In order to gain a significant competitive advantage over competitors, destinations increasingly make use of signals that certify and communicate the level of quality provided. While existing research on tourism certifications mostly pertains to quality evaluation, this study exploits quantitative methods to assess the economic impact of destinations’ labels. The analysis considers one of the most popular certification of environmental quality attributed to beaches, the Blue Flag award. It explores the relationship between the certification achievement and inbound tourist flows, focusing on the Italian case study. In fact, given their aim of providing synthetized information on destinations, certification programs particularly affect foreign tourists who suffer more from asymmetric information. Panel data techniques and highly disaggregated data are employed to compare the attractiveness of certified and non-certified provinces, by controlling for several factors potentially confounding the effect of the certification

Out-of-home eating frequency, causal attribution of obesity and support to healthy eating policies from a cross-European survey

Background: The relation between the increased out-of-home food consumption and the rising of overweight and obesity prevalence rates has been widely assessed, and the a key role played by the catering sector in ensuring healthy food choices has been recognised. Governments’ healthy eating policies have a wide range of action, influencing consumer behavior, and the socioeconomic and  food environments, with specific actions for the catering sector. Information on the public support for these policies could help policy makers in planning decisions. This study aims to investigate the relationship of out-of-home eating frequency with beliefs about obesity causes, support to healthy eating policies, and with socio-demographic factors. Methods: Data on 3003 individuals from Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Poland and United Kingdom, of both sexes, aged ≥16 years, were employed, from the European survey on policy preferences (Eatwell). Data were analysed through Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Results: Out-of-home eating varied with gender, age, marital status, education, BMI, and by country. Convenience food consumption was positively associated with obesity attribution to genetics, and inversely associated with attribution to lack of willpower. Attributions of obesity to lack of time, and to lack of self-control were associated with increased likelihood to consume fast-food and ready-prepared food respectively. Out-of-home eating people expressed higher support for information-based prevention, and actions aimed at healthier out-of-home eating, and lower support for restrictions and regulations of the food supply environment. Conclusion: Future research on out-of-home food consumers and their support towards public interventions for the catering sector, could have important implications for effective strategies to promote healthy eating

Food purchasing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Italian household scanner data

This study analyses food and drink purchasing patterns of the Italian population after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. Based on governmental restrictions at national and regional level, we explore changes in consumption behaviour due to enacted restrictions. Several phenomena may have affected food and drink purchases: (i) closure of restaurants and bars, schools and workplaces necessary implies a shift towards home consumption of meals, hence a higher quantity of food and drink purchased for consumption at-home, due to substitution; (ii) fewer visits to stores because of stay at home restrictions and anticipation of potential food shortages may induce stockpiling and online shopping; (iii) the quality (as proxied by unit values) of purchased food may change because of fewer promotions and increased propensity to save money; (iv) increased time availability because of abridging commuting time and cancelling out-of-home leisure activities may cause a shift towards purchases of raw ingredients, and a decrease in purchases of ready meal and convenience foods; (v) increased psychological distress caused by imposed restrictions and negative news may increase emotional consumption of some food and drinks. In order to test for the relevance of these factors, we use household scanner data on food and drink purchases in Italy, covering food weekly purchases and soft-drinks daily purchases for a panel of nearly ten thousand households over the years 2019 and 2020

Use of the GRADE approach in health policymaking and evaluation: a scoping review of nutrition and physical activity policies

BACKGROUND Nutrition and physical activity policies have the potential to influence lifestyle patterns and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases. In the world of health-related guidelines, GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) is the most widely used approach for assessing the certainty of evidence and determining the strength of recommendations. Thus, it is relevant to explore its usefulness also in the process of nutrition and physical activity policymaking and evaluation. The purpose of this scoping review was (i) to generate an exemplary overview of documents using the GRADE approach in the process of nutrition and physical activity policymaking and evaluation, (ii) to find out how the GRADE approach has been applied, and (iii) to explore which facilitators of and barriers to the use of GRADE have been described on the basis of the identified documents. The overarching aim of this work is to work towards improving the process of evidence-informed policymaking in the areas of dietary behavior, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. METHODS A scoping review was conducted according to current reporting standards. MEDLINE via Ovid, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were systematically searched up until 4 July 2019. Documents describing a body of evidence which was assessed for the development or evaluation of a policy, including documents labeled as \textquotedblguidelines,\textquotedbl or systematic reviews used to inform policymaking were included. RESULTS Thirty-six documents were included. Overall, 313 GRADE certainty of evidence ratings were identified in systematic reviews and guidelines; the strength of recommendations/policies was assessed in four documents, and six documents mentioned facilitators or barriers for the use of GRADE. The major reported barrier was the initial low starting level of a body of evidence from non-randomized studies when assessing the certainty of evidence. CONCLUSION This scoping review found that the GRADE approach has been used for policy evaluations, in the evaluation of the effectiveness of policy-relevant interventions (policymaking), as well as in the development of guidelines intended to guide policymaking. Several areas for future research were identified to explore the use of GRADE in health policymaking and evaluation