WIC PARTICIPATION AND THE NUTRIENT INTAKE OF PRESCHOOLERS

Quantile regression is used to evaluate the effect of WIC participation on the nutrient intakes of WIC-eligible preschoolers. Estimates based on 1994-96, 1998 CSFII data show that the WIC effects vary by quantile for iron and zinc while the effects are equal across quantiles for calcium.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Nutrition Labeling in the Food-Away-From-Home Sector: An Economic Assessment

Americans spent about 46 percent of their total food budget on food away from home in 2002, up from 27 percent in 1962. Such foods tend to be less nutritious and higher in calories than foods prepared at home, and some studies have linked eating away from home to overweight and obesity in adults and children. Current nutrition labeling law exempts much of the food-away-from-home sector from mandatory labeling regulations. Because consumers are less likely to be aware of the ingredients and nutrient content of away-from-home food than of foods prepared at home, public health advocates have called for mandatory nutrition labeling for major sources of food away from home, such as fast-food and chain restaurants. This report provides an economic assessment of a food-away-from home nutrition labeling policy, including justifications for policy intervention and potential costs and benefits of the policy.Diet quality, food labeling, government regulation, health, mandatory disclosure, nutrition information, Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, obesity, reformulation Acknowledgments, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

ECONOMIC PERCEPTIONS AND AGRICULTURAL POLICY PREFERENCES

Previous research indicates that policy perceptions are important in explaining individual preferences for government expenditures. In this article we study agricultural policy preferences using national survey data containing several policy perception measurements. A model linking preferences to perceptions through an underlying unobservable variable is estimated and assessed using the bootstrap. The perception that farmers receive too much government assistance is dominant, affecting preferences negatively. Perceptions concerning the importance of agriculture to the economy, financial stress and profitability, and farming as an occupation are also important. Some selective preference for family farm support is indicated with implications for efforts to promote such support.Agricultural and Food Policy,

The Decline in Consumer Use of Food Nutrition Labels, 1995-2006

This report examines changes in consumers’ use of nutrition labels on food packages between 1995-96 and 2005-06. The analysis finds that, although a majority of consumers report using nutrition labels when buying food, use has declined for most label components, including the Nutrition Facts panel and information about calories, fats, cholesterol, and sodium. By contrast, use of fiber information has increased. The decline in label use is particularly marked for the cohort of adults less than 30 years old.Nutrition Facts panel, Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, nutrition label use, Diet and Health Knowledge Survey, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Agricultural and Food Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing,

FOOD EXPENDITURES BY U.S. HOUSEHOLDS: LOOKING AHEAD TO 2020

By 2020, the effects of demographic changes and income growth will increase per capita spending on food 7.1 percent. Income growth alone, which will effect spending increases of almost 10 percent on away-from-home foods and 3 percent on at-home foods, will raise per capita food spending about 6 percent. Expansion of the Nation's population will drive growth in food demand and, combined with rising incomes and other demographic changes, is projected to boost total U.S. food spending 26.3 percent. On a national level, the slow but steady growth of the population will result in little variation among expenditure growth levels of individual food groups. The largest projected increase is for fruits, up 27.5 percent, while the smallest is for both beef and beverages, up 21.1 percent.Household food expenditures, income, demographics, projections, Consumer Expenditure Survey, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

INFORMATIONAL EFFECTS OF NUTRIENT INTAKE DETERMINANTS ON CHOLESTEROL CONSUMPTION

Nutrient information and dietary data for a sample of U.S. household meal planners are used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of various dietary determinants on cholesterol intake. Holding sociodemographic and household characteristics constant, greater nutrition information translates to significantly lower intake of dietary cholesterol. Evidence supports the hypothesis that schooling promotes better health behavior through greater acquisition and use of health information. Blacks and Hispanics stand to benefit from nutrition education programs to increase their awareness of diet-health relationship. A low-calorie diet decreases the intake of cholesterol more than a low-fat diet.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Food prices and obesity: long-run effect in US metropolitan areas

Once considered as a serious public health issue only in developed countries, now overweight and obesity have dramatically increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in urban settings (WHO, 2008). The main purpose of this study is to explore the economic incentives for this rapid growth in obesity rates, by studying variations in obesity over time and across geographic regions in the United States. Although a number of researchers and policymakers have devoted significant resources to address the recent rapid rise in obesity in the United States, âthe prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased sharply since the mid 1970sâ (Centers for Disease Control, 2008) and most of this increase occurred in the 1980s and 1990s (Cutler, et al., 2003). More importantly, changes in food prices have also occurred over the past 30 years and have occurred simultaneously with the obesity epidemic (Finkelstein, et al., 2005). In this study, we investigate how the decline in food prices in the last three decades affects the long-run growth of obesity rates. We take the advantage of the large panel data that cover for the time periods with the fastest growth of obesity rates, by using metropolitan samples from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and information on prices of food at home and food away from home from these major metropolitan areas for years 1976 to 2001. Specifically, instead of using absolute food prices, we explore the impacts from changes in relative prices of food at home and food away from home (i.e. food prices relative to prices for a market basket of consumer goods and services in these metropolitan areas), as well as changes in prices of food at home and food away from home on the growth in obesity rates during this time frame. We also control for the changes in contextual factors and changes in value of female in these metropolitan areas. Our findings reveal the important fact that changes in relative food prices can explain about 20 percent of the obesity growth during this time period and such effect is more pronounced for the low-educated. The results of the study provide an interpretation of the long-run growth of obesity rates in urban settings.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy,

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY CONSUMPTION IN THE UNITED STATES: LOOKING AHEAD TO 2020

U.S. consumption of food commodities is projected to rise through the year 2020, mainly due to an increase in population. But the mix of commodities is expected to shift because of an older and more diverse population, rising income, higher educational attainment, improved diet and health knowledge, and growing popularity of eating out. This study analyzes data from USDA's food consumption survey to project the consumption, through the year 2020, of 25 food groups and 22 commodity groups. Per capita consumption of fish, poultry, eggs, yogurt, fruits, nuts and seeds, lettuce, tomatoes, some other vegetables, grains, and vegetable oils is predicted to rise, whereas consumption of beef, pork, other meat, milk, cheese, potatoes, and sugar is expected to fall. The growth of the at-home and away-from-home markets varies from one commodity to another. Fruit consumption is expected to lead all commodities in growth in the at-home market, and fish consumption is expected to lead in growth in the away-from-home market.Eating out, diet and health knowledge, food-commodity translation database, food consumption projections, commodity consumption projections, Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, 1994-96 and 1998, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

USDA's Healthy Eating Index and Nutrition Information

A comprehensive model is developed to measure the extent that nutrition knowledge and diet-health awareness, among other factors, influence an individual's Healthy Eating Index (HEI), USDA's measure of overall diet quality. This is the first study that rigorously attempts to examine variation in the index across population groups by controlling for personal and household characteristics and nutrition information levels, as well as test for the endogeneity of nutrition information. Results indicate that one's level of nutrition information has an important influence on one's HEI and that nutrition information and the HEI are simultaneously determined. Other factors explaining variations in HEI's across individuals are income and education levels, race, ethnicity, and age. Evidence supports the hypothesis that higher education promotes more healthful food choices through better acquisition and use of health information.diet quality, Healthy Eating Index, nutrient demand, nutrition knowledge, health inputs, health production, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Health Status and Health Care Access of Farm and Rural Populations

Rural residents have higher rates of age-adjusted mortality, disability, and chronic disease than their urban counterparts, though mortality and disability rates vary more by region than by metro status. Contributing negatively to the health status of rural residents are their lower socioeconomic status, higher incidence of both smoking and obesity, and lower levels of physical activity. Contributing negatively to the health status of farmers are the high risks from workplace hazards, which also affect other members of farm families who live on the premises and often share in the work; contributing positively are farmers’ higher socioeconomic status, lower incidence of smoking, and more active lifestyle. Both farm and rural populations experience lower access to health care along the dimensions of affordability, proximity, and quality, compared with their nonfarm and urban counterparts.Health Economics and Policy, agriculture safety and health, electronic health records, farmer health, health, health care access, health care affordability, health care quality, health disparities, health IT, health status, mortality, rural health, telehealth, uninsured,