USE OF FOOD EXPENDITURE DATA TO ESTIMATE HOUSEHOLD NUTRIENT ACCESSIBILITY

The nutritional status of at-risk groups is usually monitored using he alth statistics. This approach has limitations as individuals are iden tified only after they have been afflicted by morbidity. In Jamaica na tional surveys are carried out in which expenditure data on all consum ption items are collected. We used these data to monitor food accessib ility in at-risk groups. The identification of decreases in accessibil ity levels relative to requirements would enable timely intervention b efore there is a deterioration in nutritional status. We analysed the data from the survey of 3861 households conducted by Statistical and P lanning Institutes of Jamaica in 1989. Using the food expenditure data , per capita energy and protein accessibility levels were determined. The mean energy and protein accessibility levels for the sample were 2 170 Gals and 64 g, respectively. The results showed that the per capit a accessibility levels of 20% and 9% of the households were less than half of requirements for energy and protein, respectively. The situati on was worse in rural areas than in urban centres. However, the access ibility levels may have been underestimated as the data did not includ e meals bought and consumed away from the home, which may be significa nt to some households. We believe that the use of data from these surv eys is a cost-effective way to monitor nutrient accessibility in Jamai ca