Nutritional adequacy in relation to household food expenditure in Tehran

One of the important determinants of availability of food within the household is the budget allocated to the purchase of food in relation to food prices in the market. The objective of this study was to determine the nutritional adequacy of diet with regard to family’s food expenditure and total expenditure in Tehrani households.

Data from the National Household Food Consumption Survey (2000-2) was used. Food expenditure was determined based on the prices of all food items consumed within the family and was broken down to quintiles. Nutritional adequacy in terms of percent actual intake in relation to recommended intake was compared among expenditure quintiles.

Consumption of food items of meat and dairy as well as fruits and vegetables food groups increased with an increase in food expenditure and the highest correlation coefficient was found for meat group. The adequacy of intake of energy, protein, riboflavin, vitamin A, calcium and iron was significantly higher in higher food expenditure quintiles.

The results reiterate the fact that with an increase in food expenditure, households might move towards a more healthy diet, consuming more nutritionally valuable foods and improving the nutritional adequacy of their diet. No correlation was found between total household expenditure and high caloric foods, while there was an association with nutritive foods such as meat, dairy and fruits. These findings explain higher intakes of vitamin B2, vitamin A and calcium in households in higher expenditure quintiles.