Decomposing Socioeconomic Effects on the Consumption of Calories and Macronutrients in Pakistan Between 2006 and 2016

ObjectiveThis study is conducted to assess the socioeconomic changes in total calorie intake per capita and calories obtained from macronutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrates) at the household level in Pakistan.DesignCross sectional data are taken from a national level survey i.e. Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) 2006 and Household Integrated Income and Consumption Survey (HIICS) 2016 published by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.SettingAll the four provinces of Pakistan.Participants14948 and 7842 households from HIES-2006 and HIICS-2016 respectively and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.MethodologyA copula-based decomposition method is applied to decompose the ten-year change in the distribution (mean, median, and quartiles) of the total calorie intake per capita and calories obtained from macronutrients.ResultsThe estimated results of decomposition reveal that total calorie intake per capita has increased on average and on considered quartiles. The calories obtained from fat and carbohydrates have increased, while calories from protein have decreased, according to the distribution of the mean and quartile. The composition effect is negative for all outcome variables and the main drivers of the composition effect are urbanization, household size, paternal education, income, and cultivation for all outcome variables.ConclusionThe household size and income are the most important covariates in an increase of total calories per capita and consumption of macronutrients but urbanization, paternal education, and cultivation contribute negatively to the composition effect. Such findings are very important to encourage the literature about nutritional change at the national level because the correlation between dietary change and risk factors for non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and obesity is very strong.