Households across all income quintiles, especially the poorest, increased animal source food expenditures substantially during recent Peruvian economic growth

Abstract

Background: Relative to plant-based foods, animal source foods (ASFs) are richer in accessible protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin B-12 and other nutrients. Because of their nutritional value, particularly for childhood growth and nutrition, it is important to identify factors influencing ASF consumption, especially for poorer households that generally consume less ASFs.

Objective: To estimate differential responsiveness of ASF consumption to changes in total household expenditures for households with different expenditures in a middle-income country with substantial recent income increases.

Methods: The Peruvian Young Lives household panel (n = 1750) from 2002, 2006 and 2009 was used to characterize patterns of ASF expenditures. Multivariate models with controls for unobserved household fixed effects and common secular trends were used to examine nonlinear relationships between changes in household expenditures and in ASF expenditures.

Results: Households with lower total expenditures dedicated greater percentages of expenditures to food (58.4% vs.17.9% in 2002 and 24.2% vs. 21.5% in 2009 for lowest and highest quintiles respectively) and lower percentages of food expenditures to ASF (22.8% vs. 33.9% in 2002 and 30.3% vs. 37.6% in 2009 for lowest and highest quintiles respectively). Average percentages of overall expenditures spent on food dropped from 47% to 23.2% between 2002 and 2009. Households in the lowest quintiles of expenditures showed greater increases in ASF expenditures relative to total consumption than households in the highest quintiles. Among ASF components, meat and poultry expenditures increased more than proportionately for households in the lowest quintiles, and eggs and fish expenditures increased less than proportionately for all households.

Conclusions: Increases in household expenditures were associated with substantial increases in consumption of ASFs for households, particularly households with lower total expenditures. Increases in ASF expenditures for all but the top quintile of households were proportionately greater than increases in total food expenditures, and proportionately less than overall expenditures.

Figure 1. Framework for Analysis.

Relation 1 represents the division of food expenditures between ASF and non-ASF, as shown in the top row. Relation 2 represents the division of total expenditures between food and non-food expenditure, as shown in the middle row. We focused our attention on the solid arrows between the center boxes in the figure. Observed controls (dashed boxes on the right) included other important determinants of ASF and food consumption expenditures, such as maternal schooling , , paternal schooling and community wealth. Unobserved controls included other household characteristics, such as food preferences.

Figure 2. (a) Percent total expenditures devoted to food in 2002, 2006 and 2009, and (b) percent food expenditures devoted to ASF in 2002, 2006 and 2009, by 2002 quintiles of total expenditures.

(a) In 2002 each quintile is significantly different from all other quintiles in that year (p<0.05) except for the first and second quintiles, and the second and third. In 2006 each quintile is significantly different from most other quintiles in that year (p<0.05). In 2009 the lowest quintile is significantly different from all other quintiles, and the second, third and fourth quintiles are significantly different from the highest quintile (p<0.05). All quintiles are based on 2002 total expenditures. (b) In 2002 each quintile is significantly different from all other quintiles in that year except for the third and fourth quintiles, and the fourth and highest quintiles (p<0.05). In 2006 each quintile is significantly different from all other quintiles for that year except for the second and third quintiles. In 2009 most quintiles are significantly different from all other quintiles in that year (p<0.05). All quintiles are based on 2002 total expenditures.

Figure 3. Elasticities of ASF and Food Expenditures with respect to Food or Total Expenditures.

(a) From 2002–2006 elasticities are significantly different from 0 (p<0.05) except for ASF-Total and Food-Total >95^th percentile. All are significantly different from 1.0 (p<0.05) except for ASF-Food between percentiles 65 and 80. (b) From 2006–2009 all elasticities are significantly different from 0 (p<0.05). All are significantly different from 1.0 (p<0.05) except for ASF-Food between percentiles 75 and 98, Food-Total below the 5^th percentile, and ASF-Total between percentiles 35 and 45.

Figure 4. Elasticities of ASF components with reference to total ASF expenditures.

Elasticities for individual ASF component expenditures are constrained to be consistent with elasticity for total ASF expenditures. (a) From 2002–2006 elasticities are not significantly different from 1 for meat below the 10^th percentile, for poultry above the 15^th percentile, for dairy between the 15^th and 75^th percentiles, and for fish >70^th percentile. Elasticities with respect to total ASF expenditures are always significantly different from 1 for eggs. (b) From 2006–2009 elasticities are not significantly different from 1 for fish between the 10^th and 25^th percentiles. Elasticities with respect to total ASF expenditures are always significantly different from 1 for meat, poultry, dairy and eggs.