Volume 19, December 2015, Pages 184–203
Highlights
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- We analyze the demand for dietary quality in Russia for the period 1996–2008.
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- Our analysis of diet quality comprises healthy and unhealthy nutrients.
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- With economic growth intake levels of both nutrient categories increase.
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- Our results are in line with an ongoing nutrition transition in Russia.
Abstract
The
increasing incidence of nutrition-related chronic diseases worldwide
has raised people's awareness of dietary quality. Most existing studies
on the topic of changing nutrition patterns measure dietary quality by
single macronutrient indicators or anthropometric outcomes. However,
such an approach is often too narrow to provide a picture of overall
dietary quality and is sometimes even misleading. This study contributes
to the existing literature by taking into account that the analysis of
dietary quality comprises two dimensions: the adequate intake of
vitamins and minerals, as well as the moderate intake of nutrients that
increase the risk of chronic diseases. Thereby, we apply Grossman's
health investment model to the analysis of the demand for dietary
quality, explicitly addressing the different dimensions of dietary
quality and the intertemporal character of health investments. We apply
our approach to Russia using data from the Russia Longitudinal
Monitoring Survey from 1996 to 2008. Our results show that intake levels
of vitamins and minerals as well as saturated and total fatty acids
increased after 1998 along with economic recovery, while the intake of
fiber decreased. Our econometric results imply an income elasticity of
vitamins and minerals of 0.051, and an income elasticity of fats of
0.073. Overall, our results are in line with an ongoing nutrition
transition in the Russian Federation, which is marked by decreasing
deficiencies in vitamins and minerals, as well as the increasing
consumption of fats with its accompanying negative health consequences.
Keywords
- Dietary quality;
- Health investment model;
- Nutrition transition;
- Russia
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+49 (0)345 2928229.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
