Nutrition-related outcomes and food environments in an increasingly processed global food landscape

Globalization and modern food production, processing, and marketing techniques have increased access to food in many regions in the world, reducing food insecurity. However, there are some serious consequences that have, until recently, been largely ignored in many developing countries. Some methods of food processing have produced foods with high caloric density, but minimal nutrient content. This has manifested as decreasing rates of various forms of undernutrition yet increasing overweight and obesity. Policy and program efforts by governments and NGOs try to find simple solutions, but are often created with only partial understanding of these complex issues.It may be too difficult due to resource constraints to acquire full information about various nutrition-related problems. One must possess knowledge of consumer behavior, the impacts various choices might have on health, and how external drivers influence the consumer and their food environment. Obtaining this information is further complicated by the rapid transitions in developing countries. Diets are becoming increasingly processed, and daily habits are trending towards more sedentary activities. At the same time, incomes are rising, food insecurity is falling, and poverty is declining in general. There is much need to understand these complex issues to better assist designers of policy and programs to provide the greatest benefit while mitigating negative unintended consequences.℗ This dissertation examines three nutrition- and nutrition-related issues. A variety of econometric techniques are applied to secondary data to explore processed food consumption, consumer shopping behavior, and the relationship between nutrition outcomes and processed food imports. This work contributes to the literature by providing a better understanding of the impact of processed food consumption on overweight or obesity, mechanisms that might drive rapid℗ obesity increases, and how the food purchasing behavior of low-income households impacts the cost of their diet.In the first paper, we examine the complex relationship between activity, diet, and the likelihood of adults being overweight or obese using a three-round nationally representative panel data set from Tanzania and a correlated random effects probit model to account for unobserved heterogeneity. Our results suggest large differences in the effects of diet and activity choice between rural and urban areas.In the second paper, we explore the existence of a two-way linkage between trade and health that has long been discussed, but never investigated empirically. Processed food imports are usually accompanied by robust marketing campaigns, which suggests there might be induced socio-cultural changes that may drive increased processed food importation. The socio-cultural changes may not be directly observable but should manifest in increased rates of overweight or obesity. Our evidence suggests a two-way relationship might exist, which is a serious concern for developing countries where exposure to ultra-processed food to date is below that of developed nations but is rising rapidly.In the third paper, we examine whether shopping behavior impacts food prices households pay. We develop a model of prices consumers face that accounts for two dimensions of food procurement: spatiality of shopping behavior and frequency of shopping trips. We explore this issue using a recent survey conducted by MSU in low-income areas of Nairobi, Kenya. Our results suggest two prominent points. First, households seem to perform very well controlling the cost of their food basket given their likely time, budget, and information constraints. Second, while we find substantial spatial price differences, we do not find any significant price benefit to those that shop outside of their local food environment.