An Analysis on the Factors Affecting Food Consumption Diversity Trends

Abstract

While the significance of food consumption diversity has been widely recognized with increased demands, numerous studies on food consumption diversity have been conducted. However, there is still a lack of research to identify the changes and detailed factors of food consumption diversity. The purpose of this study is to analyze the international level of food consumption diversity index as an attempt to examine in-depth changes and identify the patterns and determinants. This study utilized the Entropy index decomposition analysis and panel regression model using the food balance sheet from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank s international statistics. The results show that the diversity among the food groups (inter-food diversity index) and the diversity within the food groups (intra-food diversity index) both gradually increased worldwide, and their changes were correlated with income level, regional differences, and staple food. In addition, this study confirmed previously identified determinants of the food consumption diversity: income level, education level, women’s participation in economic activities, and urbanization rate. In particular, this study also confirmed the effect of the type of staple food and the degree of trade activation as the main determinants. This study provides more objective and in-depth results through analysis of the international level of food consumption diversity by detailed factors and the country group. This study is meaningful in that it provided the necessary implications not only for domestic food policy but also for agricultural development cooperation projects with developing countries that need to improve general nutrition and qualitative food security.