Is nutritional improvement a cause or a consequence of economic growth? Evidence from Mauritius

Abstract

Sustained economic growth in Mauritius has resulted in changes in nutrition patterns. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence and direction of causality between calories intake and economic growth. Our results as opposed to findings from the literature, supports the neutrality hypothesis, implying an absence of causality running in either directions. Therefore nutrition policies that are based on reducing calories intake can be envisaged, without negatively impacting on economic growth.