Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar

Despite significant poverty reduction over the past decade, undernutrition in Myanmar remains widespread. Food prices play an important role in influencing diets and nutrition outcomes, especially for poorer households. In this study, we use national household food expenditure data to assess dietary...

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Main Authors: Mahrt, Kristi, Mather, David, Herforth, Anna, Headey, Derek D.
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147128
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author Mahrt, Kristi
Mather, David
Herforth, Anna
Headey, Derek D.
author_browse Headey, Derek D.
Herforth, Anna
Mahrt, Kristi
Mather, David
author_facet Mahrt, Kristi
Mather, David
Herforth, Anna
Headey, Derek D.
author_sort Mahrt, Kristi
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Despite significant poverty reduction over the past decade, undernutrition in Myanmar remains widespread. Food prices play an important role in influencing diets and nutrition outcomes, especially for poorer households. In this study, we use national household food expenditure data to assess dietary patterns and estimate regional costs of nutritious diets in Myanmar relative to a recommended diet derived from food-based dietary guidelines. We estimate these costs following the cost of a recommended diet method (CoRD), which is based on minimum food group prices. We also develop and demonstrate an extension of this method using food group prices that reflect typical food consumption preferences (CoRD-FP). We assess the affordability of the recommended diet by comparing observed household food expenditure to the CoRD and the CoRD-FP. In 2015, 52 percent of the Myanmar population lived in households with food expenditure below the CoRD-FP, compared to 70 percent in 2010. Even the CoRD, which measures the lowest possible cost of meeting the recommended diet, exceeded household food expenditure for 32 and 24 percent of the population in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Low affordability is driven by high costs of animal-source foods and vegetables, which account for half the CoRD-FP. A majority of households over-consume staples and under-consume micronutrient-dense food groups. This imbalance is driven in part by the high caloric price of nutrient-dense foods relative to rice. The inability of more than half of households in Myanmar to afford a recommended diet at existing food expenditure levels suggests the need for policies that reduce the prices of micronutrient-dense foods, ideally through pro-poor improvements in agricultural productivity and marketing.
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spelling CGSpace1471282025-11-06T07:25:45Z Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar Mahrt, Kristi Mather, David Herforth, Anna Headey, Derek D. dietary guidelines feeding frequency healthy diets dietary costs nutrition food expenditure food consumption food prices diet Despite significant poverty reduction over the past decade, undernutrition in Myanmar remains widespread. Food prices play an important role in influencing diets and nutrition outcomes, especially for poorer households. In this study, we use national household food expenditure data to assess dietary patterns and estimate regional costs of nutritious diets in Myanmar relative to a recommended diet derived from food-based dietary guidelines. We estimate these costs following the cost of a recommended diet method (CoRD), which is based on minimum food group prices. We also develop and demonstrate an extension of this method using food group prices that reflect typical food consumption preferences (CoRD-FP). We assess the affordability of the recommended diet by comparing observed household food expenditure to the CoRD and the CoRD-FP. In 2015, 52 percent of the Myanmar population lived in households with food expenditure below the CoRD-FP, compared to 70 percent in 2010. Even the CoRD, which measures the lowest possible cost of meeting the recommended diet, exceeded household food expenditure for 32 and 24 percent of the population in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Low affordability is driven by high costs of animal-source foods and vegetables, which account for half the CoRD-FP. A majority of households over-consume staples and under-consume micronutrient-dense food groups. This imbalance is driven in part by the high caloric price of nutrient-dense foods relative to rice. The inability of more than half of households in Myanmar to afford a recommended diet at existing food expenditure levels suggests the need for policies that reduce the prices of micronutrient-dense foods, ideally through pro-poor improvements in agricultural productivity and marketing. 2019-08-01 2024-06-21T09:11:28Z 2024-06-21T09:11:28Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147128 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133533 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133796 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133802 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.135901 https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134144 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Mahrt, Kristi; Mather, David; Herforth, Anna; and Headey, Derek D. 2019. Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1854. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147128
spellingShingle dietary guidelines
feeding frequency
healthy diets
dietary costs
nutrition
food expenditure
food consumption
food prices
diet
Mahrt, Kristi
Mather, David
Herforth, Anna
Headey, Derek D.
Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar
title Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar
title_full Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar
title_fullStr Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar
title_full_unstemmed Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar
title_short Household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in Myanmar
title_sort household dietary patterns and the cost of a nutritious diet in myanmar
topic dietary guidelines
feeding frequency
healthy diets
dietary costs
nutrition
food expenditure
food consumption
food prices
diet
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147128
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