How Widespread is Undernourishment? A Critique of Measurement Methods and New Empirical Results
Posted: 17 Apr 2001
Abstract
Programmes against hunger require the identification of the undernourished. For this purpose a cutoff point is fixed which partitions the population of a region into two groups: those with insufficient access to food and those whose food needs are satisfied. We describe the standard method used to set the cutoff point. We explain how the choice of a unique cutoff point for a group of people may underestimate or overestimate undernourishment when requirements vary across people. Furthermore, we present corrected estimates of the proportion of the undernourished for a large sample of developing countries. Our results reveal that the estimation error of the standard method can be large.
Keywords: measuring undernourishment, dietary energy requirements, food security in developing countries
JEL Classification: I12, I32, O15
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation