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Economics and Nutrition
BENJAMIN SENAUER
The disciplines of economics and nutrition provide important insights
into the understanding of American eating patterns. Major themes that
help elucidate these patterns include the effect of income and prices on
diet, efficiency in food consumption patterns, and me conceptual per-
spectives provided by the new household economics and by food and
nutrition profiles.
INCOME AND DIET
One of the first factors an economist examines in analyzing food con-
sumption behavior is household income, which determines the budget that
is available for expenditures and imposes constraints on consumer behav-
ior. Income may, therefore, be related to nutrient intake and food con-
sumption patterns.
income and Nutrient Intake
Table 1 presents average nutrient intake levels, as percentages of the
Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) (NRC, 1980), for persons in
households at four income levels. These data are based on the individual
portion of the 1977-1978 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey (NFCS)
conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA, 1980) and
reflect income levels for that period. Consumption of all nutrients except
vitamin A and thiamin appears to increase with income. However, the
46
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ECONOMICS AND NUTRITION
47
TABLE 1 Per Capita Average Daily Nutrient Intake Levels, Measured
as Percentages of the 1980 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs),
at Four Household Income Levelsa
Intake as a Percentage of 1980 RDAs9 by Household Incomeb
$16,000
and
Over
Under $6,000 to $10,000 to
Nutrients $6,000 $9,999 $15,999
Food energy 80 84 86 86
Protein 154 163 167 }71
Calcium 80 83 89 87
Iron 99 102 105 104
Magnesium 77 19 85 85
Phosphorus 128 132 139 139
Vitamin A 119 115 114 117
Thiamin 115 108 116 11 ~
Riboflavin 125 125 137 130
Niacin 117 122 128 129
Vitamin B6 70 74 78 79
Vitamin B,2 120 132 144 145
Vitamin C 144 140 147 164
aFrom USDA, 1980.
bIncome data from 1977-1978.
differences with increased income are small and have not been tested
for statistical significance; standard deviations were not provided in the
NFCS publications. For eight of the nutrients, consumption exceeds
the RDAs at all four income levels. By contrast, intakes of calcium,
magnesium, and vitamin B6 are below their RDAs at all four income
levels. In general, there is not a strong relationship between nutrient
intake and income level.
Some groups of the U.S. population have marked dietary deficiencies-
for example, inadequate iron and calcium levels for many women and
girls but these problems are not related to income (USDA, 19801. The
United States is sufficiently wealthy so that income level is usually no
longer a primary determinant of nutrient intake. However, for those who
live in extreme poverty for example, migrant workers, Indian reservation
inhabitants, and homeless city dwellers severely substandard diets are
prevalent (Halcrow, 19771.
The evidence on caloric consumption in Table 1 deserves special com-
ment. The highest level of food energy intake is only 86% of the RDA.
This finding does not agree with the generally accepted observation that
overconsumption of calories is far more widespread than underconsump-
tion in the United States. A recent food survey indicated that almost two-
thirds of those surveyed had tried to lose weight in the past year (Leonard,
19821. Calories are unique among the nutrients, in that persons receive
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48
WHAT FACTORS SHAPE EATING PATTERNS?
direct and obvious feedback on their own individual caloric needs through
weight gain or loss.
Income and Food Consumption Patterns
Although there are few substantial differences
in nutrient intake by
income level, the same nutrients can be obtained from different foods.
and eating patterns might be markedly different across income groups.
Table 2 presents the dietary intake of major food groups for the same four
income levels as in Table 1 . Consumption of beef, cream and milk desserts,
cheese, fats and oils, fruits, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages increased
more than 25% between the lowest and highest income groups. However,
TABLE 2 Per Capita Average Daily Dietary Intake of Major Food
Groups in Households at Four Income Levelsa
Average Daily Intake (g) by Household income Levelb
Under $6,000 to $10,000 to $16,000
$6,000 $9,999 $15,999 and Over
Food Group (N = 4,026) (N = 4,249) (N = 7,286) (N = 11,624)
Beef 40 46 51 57
Pork 19 20 19 20
Poultry 27 25 24 23
Other meats,
fishC 96 107 109 112
Milk 254 279 295 291
Cheese 10 13 14 17
Cream and milk
desserts 18 19 23 26
Eggs 29 30 24 24
Baked goods 103 112 112 112
Cereals, pastas 70 58 47 42
Fats 10 12 14 15
Vegetables 192 198 196 197
F=its 122 132 133 158
Legumes, nuts 30 30 26 21
Sugar, sweets 20 23 23 25
Soft drinks 139 166 176 174
Alcoholic
beverages 32 33 45 62
Other
beverages 360 387 412 436
aFrom USDA, 1983c.
bTotal annual before-tax money earnings of all members of the household in which the
surveyed person resided. Income data from 1977-1978.
CIncludes lamb, veal, game, organ meats, organ meat mixtures, frankfurters, sausages,
luncheon meat, fish, shellfish, and mixtures of mainly meat, poultry, and fish. Mixtures
account for highest consumption in this food group.
Includes coffee, tea, fmit drinks, and fruit-aces.
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ECONOMICS AND NUTRITION
49
Me consumption of poultry, eggs, cereals and pasta, and legumes and nuts
tended to decline wide increased income.
Income Elasticity. Economists use "income elasticity" (the percent-
age change in consumption corresponding to a percentage change in in-
come) as a single statistic Nat reflects the relationship between income
and consumption. Table 3 provides income elasticities estimated from the
household portion of the 1977-1978 NFCS data (USDA, 1981a). Con-
sumers consider most food groups to be necessities. Economists define a
necessity as a good with an income elasticity greater than zero but less
Wan one, so that as income increases consumption also nses, but less
rapidly than the increase in income. As shown in Table 3, a few cate-
gories - processed milk, cereal products, pork, eggs, and canned fruits
and vegetables—are inferior goods with negative elasticities, in which
case consumption declines as income increases and vice versa. The highest
income elasticities are for alcoholic beverages and food away from home.
TABLE 3 Income Elasticities Estimated from the
Household Portion of the 1977-1978 Nationwide Food
Consumption Surveya
Food Group
Income
Elasticityb
Total food
Food away from home
Food at home
Dairy products
Fresh milk
Processed milk
Cheese
Fats and oils
Cereal products
Bakery products
Beef
Pork
Poultry
Fish, shellfish
Eggs
Sugar and sweets
Fresh vegetables
Fresh fruits
Canned fmits and vegetables
Frozen fruits and vegetables
Soft drinks
Alcoholic beverages
0.32
0.81
0.15
0.15
0.05
—0.08
0.32
0.07
-0.12
0.15
0.23
—0.01
0.07
0.33
-0.06
0.05
0.18
0.24
-0.04
0.44
0.19
0.90
aFrom USDA, 1981a.
bIncome elasticity = percentage change in consumption corresponding
to a loo change in income.
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50
WHAT FACTORS SHAPE EATING PATTERNS?
Food Consumed Away from Home. The average household purchased
and consumed 23% of its total food, measured by dollar cost, away from
home in 1977-1978 (USDA, 1983a, p. 131. However, this figure varied
dramatically depending on income level. For example, households with
annual incomes less than $5,000 purchased and consumed only 12~o of
Weir total money value of food away from home, whereas households
with incomes of $25,000 and higher spent 31% of their total food dollars
on food away from home. When weekly per person costs for food con-
sumed away from home were measured, households with incomes less
than $5,000 (13% of all households in He NFCS) spent only $1.93 per
person, in contrast to households with incomes of $25,000 and higher
(10~o of the total survey), which spent $~.94 per person more than four
times as much as the former group (USDA, 1983a, p. 13~. The weekly
dollar value of food consumed at home was $15.38 per person for the
same low-income households and $19.66 per person for the high-income
households, a difference of only 28%.
Food Consumed at Home. For some food items consumed at home,
there are marked differences in consumption with income level. For ex-
ample, the NFCS data for 1977-1978 indicated that consumption of fresh
skim milk, yogurt, and sirloin steaks increased sharply as income rose
(USDA, 1983a). For each of these foods, the difference in consumption
between the low and high income levels was threefold or greater (Table
41. In contrast, cornmeal, grits, and sweet potato consumption decreased
by at least a factor of three between the lower and higher income levels.
Income is highly correlated with other sociodemographic factors, such
as age, education, and race, that are also determinants of food consumption
patterns. The patterns observed in Tables 1, 2, and 4 should not be
attributed solely, or even predominantly, to income. In Table 4, for ex-
TABLE 4 Per Capita Weekly Consumption of Some
Foods at Home at Two Income Levelsa
Weekly Consumption (g)
by Household Income
Foods Under $5,000 $25,000 and Over
Fresh skim milk 82.29 265.14
Yogurt 18.29 54.86
Sirloin steak 22.86 86.86
Cornmeal 86.86 9.14
Grits 27.43 4.57
Sweet potatoes 41.14 13.71
aFrom USDA, 1983a.
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ECONOMICS AND NUTRITION
51
ample, it can be seen that cornmeal, grits, and sweet potato consumption
is high among rural Southern blacks, a group that contains a dispropor-
tionately large portion of the country's poor. Multivariate analysis tech-
niques, such as regression analysis, are necessary to isolate the effect of
specific socioeconomic factors on food consumption.
PRICES AND DIET
Food prices, particularly price differences between substitute products,
also strongly influence food consumption patterns. Some of the most
marked changes in eating patterns during the last 20 years have occurred
in meat and poultry consumption. Table 5 presents annual per capita
consumption and price data for beef and veal, pork, and poultry. These
data were estimated utilizing a food balance sheet or disappearance ap-
proach, based on the flow of food items through the food distribution
system. Considerable discrepancies may exist between consumption as
measured by the balance sheet, household survey, and individual dietary
intake methods. The prices in the table are given as consumer price indexes
for each product, and 1960 rawer than 1967 is equal to a base of 100.
The shifts in consumption of beef and veal, pork, and poultry appear
to strongly reflect the relative price changes in the three categories. Be-
tween 1960 and 1970 pork prices increased the most and poultry prices
increased the least; in Me same period, pork consumption barely changed,
whereas poultry consumption rose by 44%. Beef price increases were
modest and, corresponding to beef's higher income elasticity (Table 3),
beef consumption rose 25% between 1960 and 1970 as real income in-
creased.
During the 1970s, pork, with its lower price increases, became a more
attractive buy than beef, and poultry became a markedly more attractive
TABLE 5 Meat and Poultry: Annual Per Capita Consumption and
Prices, 1960-1982a
-
Annual Consumption (kg)b
Foods 1960 1970 1980 1982
Consumer Price Indexes
(1960= 100)C
1960 1970 198()
100
100
100
1982
Beef and veal
Pork
Poultry
aFrom USDA, 1981b, and USDA, 1983b.
bRetail weight.
CFor ease of comparison, consumer price index figures were recalculated from a 1967 = 100
base to a 1960 = 100 base.
32
27
16
39
28
22
36
31
28
36
27
29
130
141 l
101
293
255
178
300
315
182
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52
WHAT FACTORS SHAPE EATING PATTERNS?
buy than red meats, especially beef. Partially in reaction to these price
changes, beef consumption between 1970 and 1980 declined 9%, pork
increased 10%, and poultry increased 25%. Between 1980 and 1982, the
sharp price jump in pork induced a marked drop in consumption.
Unquestionably, other factors have affected these consumption shifts.
However, a recent USDA study argued that "an overwhelming part of
the variation in U.S. meat demand can be explained by changes in retail
prices and consumer incomes" (Haidacher et al., 1982, p. iv).
EFFICIENCY IN FOOD CONSUMPTION
This section explores various perspectives on the efficiency of food
consumption patterns in terms of the observed pattern of nutrients per
dollar's worth of food, He USDA food plans, and least-cost diets.
Dietary Efficiency
Table 6 indicates the efficiency with which households at different
income levels use their food budgets to obtain basic nutrients. The general
pattern that emerges is Hat lower income households spend their food
budgets more efficiently than higher income households by obtaining more
nutrients per dollar's worth of food. The milligrams of thiamine per dollar
of food, for example, declined from 0.89 to 0.72 mg between the lowest
and highest income groups. The efficiency increase of lower income house-
holds is probably even greater than suggested by Table 6, which only
reflects food used at home. As discussed previously, higher income house-
holds consume more of their meals away from home. And food consumed
away from home, on the average, is substantially more expensive on a
nutrient per dollar basis than food consumed at home.
The USDA Food Plans
The USDA (Cleveland and Peterkin, 1983) publishes four food plans
thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, and liberal which provide nutritious
diets at four cost levels. The food plans were developed using data on
the observed food consumption patterns at various income levels. Re-
Gently revised plans were based on the 1977-1978 NECS (USDA,
1983a,c). The food plans are designed to satisfy dietary standards (ac-
cording to the RDAs for the major nutrients) at a given cost with the
fewest possible changes from observed consumption patterns (Cleve-
land and Peterkin, 19831.
Compared to actual consumption patterns, the food plans contain fewer
OCR for page 53
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54
WHAT FACTORS SHAPE EATING PATTERNS?
soft drinks, sugar and sweets, fats and oils, cheese, eggs, and meat, but
more grain products and dry beans, peas, and nuts. These changes tend
to lower costs and improve the nutritional content of the diet. In addition,
these dietary changes would bring food consumption patterns more in line
with the Dietary Goals for the United States developed by the Senate
Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs (U.S. Congress, 1977~.
These dietary goals, subsequently referred to as dietary guidelines, ad-
vocated an increase in complex carbohydrate consumption (primarily from
grain products) and a reduction in the consumption of sugar, fat (partic-
ularly saturated fat), cholesterol, and salt.
Least-Cost Diets
An approach different from Mat of the USDA food plans has been the
construction of least-cost or very low cost diet plans using linear programming
techniques (Foyers, 1981~. The objective function in the program is to min-
im~ze Be cost of the diet, subject to the constraint of satisfying basic nu~i-
tional requirements with He given food prices. The solution is not restricted
to correspond with observed eating patterns. Additional constraints Hat are
typically added impose upper and lower quantity limits on particular foods
to ensure a more varied and palatable diet.
A recently developed very low cost diet plan met the same nutrient
standards as the thrifty food plan at only 60% of its cost (Foytik, 19811.
Adoption of such a diet, however, would require a substantial change in
food consumption for even low-income households. For example, the diet
allows powdered milk as the only dairy product and excludes meat other
than chicken, hamburger, and beef chuck.
The USDA food plans (Cleveland and Peterkin, 1983) recognize that
cultural, psychological, and social factors affect food choices and that
food consumption patterns are deeply ingrained and difficult to change.
The typical household is limited in its ability and desire to pursue a more
efficient diet. Significantly, the U.S. Food Stamp Program allotments are
based on the USDA thrifty food plan; no one has seriously proposed that
a least-cost diet be the basis for the program allotments.
IMPORTANT CONCEPI UAL PERSPECTIVES
A brief overview of two conceptual perspectives, the new household
economics and food and nutrition profiles, provides further insight into
American eating patterns.
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ECONOMICS AND NUTRITION
The New Household Economics
55
Gary Becker's model of time allocation, one of the more important
additions to economic theory in the past 25 years, has given rise to the
new household economics (Becker, 1965; Michael and Becker, 19731.
This model has important implications for understanding eating patterns.
The household is viewed as a production, as well as a consumption, entity
that combines market-pt~rchased goods and household time to produce Me
actual consumables. In the model, time is as crucial a constraint on con-
sumption behavior as is the budget. When time is scarce, it becomes more
valuable, and a shift toward a less time-intensive consumption pattern
occurs.
The purchase and preparation of food for consumption at home requires
a substantial input of household time. One can view food choices as
reflecting a fairly continuous range of required household production times.
At the most time-intensive extreme, for example, are homegrown prod-
ucts, followed by meals prepared from scratch- such as baking bread at
home and then home cooking, which entails the use of some prepared
foods, such as store-bought bread and canned or frozen vegetables. At
the time-saving end of the range are convenience foods, such as prepared
frozen dinners, followed by the least time-intensive extreme food con-
sumed away from home.
Prochaska and Schrimper (1973) found that as the value of a woman's
time rose, as measured by her wage rate or potential wage, the household
purchased more meals away from home. One of the major Rends today
is the increased participation of women, particularly married women, in
the work force. The resulting increased scarcity of household time partially
explains the steadily increasing proportion of food eaten away from home
and the current high demand for such products as microwave ovens and
frozen dinner entrees.
Food and Nutrition Profiles
Some recent research by the Community Nutrition Institute (Leonard,
1982) indicated that American households follow particular, distinctive
eating patterns. Households were divided into five food and nutrition
profiles based on their dietary practices. '`Meat eaters" (30% of surveyed
households) were heavy consumers of meat, sugar, and sweets. "People
on the go" (14C%o of the sample) ate more meals away from home and
spent more for food than other groups. "In a dither" households (16%
of the sample) had a high convenience-food consumption. The "consci-
entious" (15% of the sample) spent less for food, had more nutrition
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56
WlIAT FACTORS SH~E EATING PA=E~S?
knowledge, ate more at home, and cooked and baked more. "Healthy
eaters" (25% of the sample) ate less meat, fat, sugar, and sweets, but ate
more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains than did other households.
The socioeconomic characteristics appear to be quite consistent for the
households that fall into each of these food and nutrition profiles. For
example, healthy eaters are typically from small households with older
members. The conscientious include more high income families. In-a-
dither households typically have many members, whereas on-the-go
households have fewer members.
CONCLUSIONS
Historically, and in many societies of the world today, human food
consumption consists of a simple diet usually dominated by a single staple,
such as nce, wheat, or corn. Only the rich in such societies can afford
more vowed diets. In sharp contrast, contemporary American eating pat-
terns reflect the remarkably vmed diets that occur when economic abun-
dance is widespread, although certainly not universal, in a society. Eating
patterns in the United States demonstrate the complexity of human be-
havior and continue to challenge researchers' understanding and expla-
nation of them. Given the generally plentiful American food supply, public
concern should focus particularly on the diets and nutritional needs of the
poor, who do not share in this abundance.
REFERENCES
Becker, G 1965. A theory of the allocation of time. Econ. J. 74:493-517.
Cleveland, L. E., and B. Peterkin. 1983. USDA 1983 family food plans. U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Fam. Econ. Rev. 2:12-21.
Foytik, J. 1981. Very low-cost nutritious diet plans designed by linear programming. J. Nutr.
Educ. 13:63-65.
Haidacher, R. C., 3. A. Craven, K. S. Huang, D. M. Smallwood, and J. R. Blayloc}~. 1982.
Consumer Demand for Red Meats, Poultry, and Fish. Economic Research Service, National
Economics Division. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Halcrow, H. G. 1977. Food Policy. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Leonard, R. 1982. Nutrition profiles: Diet in the 80s. Community Nutritionist 1:12-17.
Michael, R., and G. Becker. 1973. On the new theory of consumer behavior. Swed. J. Econ.
75:378-396.
NRC (National Research Council). 1980. Recommended Dietary Allowances, 9th ed. A report
of the Food and Nutrition. Board, Assembly of Life Sciences. National Academy of Sciences,
Washington, D.C.
Prochaska, F. J., and R. A. Sc}~imper. 1973. Opportunity cost of time and other socioeconomic
effects on away-from-home food consumption. Am. J. Agnc. Econ. 55:595-603.
U.S. Congress. 1977. Dietary Goals for the United States. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition
and Human Needs, 95th Congress, 1st Session.
OCR for page 57
ECONOMICS AND NUTRITIOlV
57
USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). 1979. Money Value of Food Used by Households in
the United States, Spring 1977. Science and Education Administration, Nationwide Food
Consumption Survey 1977-78, Preliminary Report No. 1. U.S. Department of Agnculture,
Hyattsville, Md.
USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). 1980. Food and Nutrient Intake of Individuals in One
Day in the United States, Spring 1977. Science and Education Administration, Nationwide
Food Consumption Survey 1977-78. Preliminary Report No. 2. U.S. Department of Agri-
culture, Hyattsville, Md.
USDA (U.S. Department of Agnculture). 1981 a. Impact of Household Size and Income on Food
Spending Patterns. Economics and Statistics Service, Technical Bulletin No. 1650. U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Washington, O.C.
USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). 1981b. Food Consumption, Prices, and Expenditures,
1960-1980. Economic Research Service, Statistical Bulletin No. 672. U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). 1983a. Food Consumption: Households in the United
States, Seasons and Year 1977-78. Human Nutrition Information Service, Consumer Nutrition
Division, Nationwide Food Consumption Survey 1977-78, Report No. H-6. U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Hyattsville, Md.
USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). 1983b. Food Consumption, Prices, and Expenditures,
1962-1982. Economic Research Service, Statistical Bulletin No. 702. U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
USDA (U.S. Department of Agnculture). 1983c. Food Intalces: individuals in 48 States, Year
1977-78. Human Nutrition Infonnation Service, Consumer Nutrition Division, Nationwide
Food Consumption Survey 1977-78, Report No. I-1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hyatts-
ville, Md.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
eating patterns
