Per capita versus adult-equivalent estimates of calorie availability in household budget surveys

This study aims to estimate an adult-equivalent scale for calorie requirements and to determine the differences between adult-equivalent and per capita measurements of calorie availability in the Brazilian population. The study used data from the 2002-2003 Brazilian Household Budget Survey. The calorie requirement for a reference adult individual was based on the mean requirements for adult males and females (2,550kcal/day). The conversion factors were defined as the ratios between the calorie requirements for each age group and gender and that of the reference adult. The adult-equivalent calorie availability levels were higher than the per capita levels, with the largest differences in rural and low-income households. Differences in household calorie availability varied from 22kcal/day (households with adults and an adolescent) to 428kcal/day (households with elderly individuals), thus showing that per capital measurements can underestimate the real calorie availability, since they overlook differences in household composition.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Claro,Rafael Moreira, Levy,Renata Bertazzi, Bandoni,Daniel Henrique, Mondini,Lenise
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz 2010
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X2010001100020
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