Using a household budget survey to measure healthy eating patterns

Abstract

Along with physical activity, diet is the key factor that affects your weight. Having a healthy weight for your height is important as being overweight or obese increases the risk of medical conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Very little is known about the diet of Irish households and its pattern of change. This paper reviews sources of information and highlights an overlooked source, the Central Statistics Office`s Household Budget Survey (HBS). This study expands the use of the information collected from households that participated in the Irish 1999-2000 HBS. The detailed descriptions (including weight and volume data) on the receipts that the households received when they purchased food items were identified as an important new source of information on the nutritional value of this food. This study shows that the food purchased by households in the State, in the period 1999-2000, provided, on average, a calorific value 16% higher than the recommended level of 2,500 calories per day.