Shares of Energy and Nutrients Intakes from Subsidized Food Items in Iranian Households in diffferent Socio-Economic Status

This study was conducted to determine the shares of energy and nutrients intakes from subsidized food items in meeting nutritional requirements of Iranian urban and rural households in different socio-economic (SES) groups.

The data collected in the Comprehensive Study on Household Food Consumption Patterns and Nutritional Status of I.R. Iran during 2001-2003 were used in this study. Households were selected by systematic cluster sampling in urban and rural areas and their SES was assessed through in-depth interviews. Assessment of food consumption patterns was done using three consecutive 24-hour diet recalls by trained nutritionists. To determine subsidized food items consumption in the households direct weighing and purchasing tables of major food items (rice, oil, and sugar) and 2-day records were used. In the data file, subsidized and non-subsidized food item subgroups were separated from each other and the shares of each subgroup in supplying energy and nutrients intake in the households were determined. From among the socio-economic variables, some were extracted by factor analysis as indicators of SES based on factor loading. Factor analysis detected 3 significant components for SES. These factors could explain 70% of the variance in SES. The population was divided into three categories (tertiles) according to the factors extracted. The first, second and third tertiles were considered as low, medium and high socio-economic groups, respectively. Finally, the shares of subsidized food items in supplying energy and macronutriets in the 3 categories were estimated.

Of the 7158 households studied, 2496 (34.9%) were rural and 4662 (65.1%) urban. The highest consumption of bread was seen in the low SES groups, while the energy, carbohydrate, and protein supplied by bread was low in the high SES groups. The daily per capita consumption of hydrogenated and liquid oils was 82 and 3.6 grams in urban and rural areas, respectively. In spite of increasing non- subsidized liquid oil proportion in urban areas (2.6, 3.0, and 4.1 gram/person/day in the low, medium and high SES tertiles, respectively), consumption of hydrogenated and total oils decreased with increasing SES in both urban and rural areas. The data also showed that in cities, with increasing the SES level the proportions of non-subsidized rice and sugar increased and that of hydrogenated (subsidized) fat decreased. Shares of dietary energy obtained from bread (42.3±0.5, 37.4±0.5, and 33.0±0.5 grams in rural, and 36.4±0.4, 30.0±0.3, and 26.4±0.3 grams in urban, areas in low, moderate and high SES groups, respectively) and hydrogenated subsidized oil were higher, and that from sugar was lower, in low SES groups, as compared to moderate and high SES groups in both rural and urban areas. Finally, in the high SES groups the shares of energy from non-subsidized and total rice, as well as from non-subsidized liquid oil, were higher.

In IR Iran, higher SES groups receive lower proportions of their dietary fat, rice and sugar from subsidized food items. In contrast, in the lower SES it is the subsidized food items that supply most of the energy, carbohydrates and proteins.