Determinants of Nutrition Demand: The Limited Relevance of Income and the Importance of In-Kind Food, Refrigeration, Women's Education and Nutritional Knowledge

摘要

Although recent analyses of the endemic malnutrition found in developing countries have stressed the role of income in determining nutritional status, this report presents a study which concludes that other factors, e.g., household size and women's education, play a more important role than does income. Data were obtained from a 1977 survey of 1,167 households in Managua, Nicaragua. Deficiencies in calories, protein, iron, and vitamin A were examined. Two models - a basic one incorporating household income and size and women's education and an extended one incorporating additional income, consumer, and background variables - were used to explain nutritional status.