Dietary quality in Brazil: theory and evidence using demand for nutrients

Abstract

This paper investigates how the composition of the Brazilian food diet responds to prices and household expenditures by estimating the consumer demand equations for nutrients using the quadratic almost ideal demand system model. The link between demand for foods and nutrients is made using the idea that consumers derive utility from foods as they have nutritive value. The results suggest that the most price-sensitive nutrients are carbohydrates, calcium, iron, cholesterol and vitamin C, which are in most of the Brazilian basic food diet. When it comes to income effects, the evidences corroborated that the demand for nutrients is sensitive to changes in household expenditure (and this relationship is nonlinear).The results for cholesterol and lipids are worrisome, considering that consumption of these nutrients increases strongly as a response to positive changes in income, especially for the poorest households.