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Food away from home and obesity in Brazil

Caroline Pauletto Spanhol Finocchio (Center of Study and Research in Agribusiness, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
Homero Dewes (Center of Study and Research in Agribusiness, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies

ISSN: 2044-0839

Article publication date: 18 May 2015

423

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to characterize food consumption outside the home and verify the existence of relationships between income, expenditure and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adult individuals in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

Food expenditure data were used as well as those on the prevalence of overweight and obesity available in the reports from Family Budgets Research carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in the years 2002-2003 and 2008-2009. In addition, the authors used the Kruskall-Wallis test to verify whether there were significant differences between the classes of income with respect to the average expenditure on food outside the home.

Findings

It was observed that the higher the income of the individual, the greater the expenditure on food outside the home. It was also found that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in individuals who have higher income, particularly among men. Thus, it is suggested that the higher the income of the individual, the larger the expenditure on food outside the home and the greater the prevalence of overweight and obesity.

Research limitations/implications

This study used spending on food away from home (FAFH), but the authors know that is need to use other variables like frequency of FAFH and quantities but this data were not available.

Practical implications

The study points to the importance of restaurants in the prevention of obesity, since they can offer in their menus foods with fewer calories, and they can also increase the variety and availability of fruits and vegetables.

Originality/value

The study discusses the public health problem, obesity, at the same time as it presents the importance of agribusiness in providing a balanced diet for individuals.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Elton Gean Araújo for their support of this research.

Citation

Finocchio, C.P.S. and Dewes, H. (2015), "Food away from home and obesity in Brazil", Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 44-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-07-2013-0026

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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