Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods

Improving diet quality is an emerging development policy priority. Existing indicators emphasize the cost and affordability of healthy diets but have not attempted to measure how far households are from ideal diets or how policies may nudge them closer to them. We propose a new Reference Diet Depriv...

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Main Authors: Pauw, Karl, Ecker, Olivier, Thurlow, James, Comstock, Andrew R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130616
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author Pauw, Karl
Ecker, Olivier
Thurlow, James
Comstock, Andrew R.
author_browse Comstock, Andrew R.
Ecker, Olivier
Pauw, Karl
Thurlow, James
author_facet Pauw, Karl
Ecker, Olivier
Thurlow, James
Comstock, Andrew R.
author_sort Pauw, Karl
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Improving diet quality is an emerging development policy priority. Existing indicators emphasize the cost and affordability of healthy diets but have not attempted to measure how far households are from ideal diets or how policies may nudge them closer to them. We propose a new Reference Diet Deprivation (ReDD) index, estimated from household consumption survey data, that measures the incidence, breadth, and depth of diet deprivation across multiple food groups. While informative as a standalone measure, we demonstrate how the ReDD index can be integrated into an economic model to examine changes in diet quality under different policy or external shocks. Our Nigerian case study shows that productivity growth in the dairy, pulse & nut, fruit, and red meat value chains have more potential than staple crops to reduce diet deprivation. While these findings have implications for food and agricultural policy prioritization in Nigeria, the study more importantly demonstrates the usefulness of the ReDD index for assessing diet quality and examining the drivers of dietary change when used in conjunction with a simulation model.
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spelling CGSpace1306162025-10-26T12:51:33Z Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods Pauw, Karl Ecker, Olivier Thurlow, James Comstock, Andrew R. agriculture consumption diet diet quality households productivity shock surveys value chains Improving diet quality is an emerging development policy priority. Existing indicators emphasize the cost and affordability of healthy diets but have not attempted to measure how far households are from ideal diets or how policies may nudge them closer to them. We propose a new Reference Diet Deprivation (ReDD) index, estimated from household consumption survey data, that measures the incidence, breadth, and depth of diet deprivation across multiple food groups. While informative as a standalone measure, we demonstrate how the ReDD index can be integrated into an economic model to examine changes in diet quality under different policy or external shocks. Our Nigerian case study shows that productivity growth in the dairy, pulse & nut, fruit, and red meat value chains have more potential than staple crops to reduce diet deprivation. While these findings have implications for food and agricultural policy prioritization in Nigeria, the study more importantly demonstrates the usefulness of the ReDD index for assessing diet quality and examining the drivers of dietary change when used in conjunction with a simulation model. 2023-05 2023-06-02T20:24:09Z 2023-06-02T20:24:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130616 en Open Access Elsevier Pauw, Karl; Ecker, Olivier; Thurlow, James; and Comstock, Andrew R. 2023. Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods. Food Policy 117(May 2023): 102471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102471
spellingShingle agriculture
consumption
diet
diet quality
households
productivity
shock
surveys
value chains
Pauw, Karl
Ecker, Olivier
Thurlow, James
Comstock, Andrew R.
Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods
title Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods
title_full Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods
title_fullStr Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods
title_full_unstemmed Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods
title_short Measuring changes in diet deprivation: New indicators and methods
title_sort measuring changes in diet deprivation new indicators and methods
topic agriculture
consumption
diet
diet quality
households
productivity
shock
surveys
value chains
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/130616
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AT comstockandrewr measuringchangesindietdeprivationnewindicatorsandmethods