AUTHOR=Pakravan-Charvadeh Mohammad Reza , Flora Cornelia Butler , Emrouznejad Ali 

TITLE=Impact of Socio-Economic Factors on Nutrition Efficiency: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.859789

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.859789

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=Abstract
Background
Paying particular attention to sustainable food consumption in low-income households is essential ‎‎for increasing human health. Due to the growing population globally, this concept will likely ‎become more ‎serious soon. ‎
Methods
Following the importance of optimizing food consumption for ‎sustainability, in this study, a novel ‎methodology is introduced for calculating nutrient intake ‎efficiency and determining choices of ‎food to in ‎different locations. The impact of socio-economic factors on nutrition efficiency is ‎assessed. ‎Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and a Tobit model are used to achieve the goals. ‎Household ‎Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES) of 30,000 rural and urban Iranian ‎households in all provinces in 2016 is analyzed. A Nutrient Efficiency Map (NEM) of Iran was ‎depicted by GIS ‎software. ‎
Results
The results showed that many townships had nutrient efficiency scores of less than 70%. ‎Northeast ‎townships had the lowest scores, with an efficiency score of less than 50%. ‎Overall, townships ‎have lower efficiency in the North (seaside cities), East (desert cities), and North ‎East (isolated ‎cities) compared with other areas.‎
Conclusions ‎
Therefore, it is suggestible that the government ‎should modify the support policies and the ‎protection packages based on social, geographical‎‏,‏‎ and cultural status.‎