Abstract
Diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are growing concerns in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this study, I explore how individuals’ education affects household food demand behaviour in choosing healthy and unhealthy food in Sri Lanka, an LMIC. I used data from Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) carried out by the department of census and statistics in Sri Lanka in 2016, and I categorized food into fourteen food groups as healthy and unhealthy according to the food guidelines relates to diabetes and hypertension. Then I estimated the food demand elasticities for each food group using a Linear Approximation Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS) while applying a two-step estimation procedure to avoid the zero consumption problem. The preliminary results indicate that educated household heads allocate significantly lower shares of expenditures on unhealthy food such as high GI cereals, red or processed meat, sugar, fat and oil and confectionaries, as well as some healthy foods such as lean meat, eggs and vegetables compared to less educated housholds. The elasticity coefficients also suggest that households with educated household heads spend more on most healthy food and less on some unhealthy food with their income increase; however, they still show higher income elasticities for some unhealthy foods. Hence the study concludes that education makes mixed impacts on household healthy food demand. It contributes to making the correct decisions towards healthy consumption but not reducing the harmful ones.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
EDUCATION, HEALTHY/UNHEALTHY FOOD, DIET-RELATED DISEASES
