Over the past few decades,the Internet has rapidly diffused across China.The spread of the Internet has had a profound economic and social impact on Chinese rural areas.Existing research shows that Internet access sig...Over the past few decades,the Internet has rapidly diffused across China.The spread of the Internet has had a profound economic and social impact on Chinese rural areas.Existing research shows that Internet access significantly impacts agricultural production and improves smallholder farmers’income.Beyond these,the Internet can affect other dimensions of social welfare.However,research about the impact of Internet access on dietary quality in rural China remains scarce.This study utilizes multi-period panel data from Fixed Observation Point in rural China from 2009 to 2015 to estimate the impact of Internet access on dietary quality and food consumption of rural households and conducts a causal analysis.Regression models with time and household fixed effects allow robust estimation while reducing potential issues of unobserved heterogeneity.The estimates show that Internet access has significantly increased rural household dietary quality(measured by the Chinese Diet Balance Index).Further research finds that Internet access has increased the consumption of animal products,such as aquatic and dairy products.We also examine the underlying mechanisms.Internet access improves dietary quality and food consumption mainly through increasing household income and food expenditure.These results encourage the promotion of Internet access as a valuable tool for nutritional improvements,especially in rural areas.展开更多
The call for agri-food system transformation is urgent in many global development agendas(UN 2023).Food systems have contributed to economic prosperity and feeding the world,but they are also associated with numerous ...The call for agri-food system transformation is urgent in many global development agendas(UN 2023).Food systems have contributed to economic prosperity and feeding the world,but they are also associated with numerous challenges,including climate change,continued hunger,poor diets and malnutrition,and increasing disparities(Webb et al.2020;Fanzo et al.2021).展开更多
This paper offers the first empirical evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on dietary diversity among children and adolescents in urban and rural families by using panel data collected in 2019(before COVID-19)and 2020(d...This paper offers the first empirical evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on dietary diversity among children and adolescents in urban and rural families by using panel data collected in 2019(before COVID-19)and 2020(during COVID-19)in northern China.Our study uses panel data from 2,201 primary school students and 1,341 junior high-school students to apply the difference in differences(DID)method to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on dietary diversity among students in urban and rural families.We found that the dietary diversity score(DDS)of rural students decreased by 0.295 points(p<0.01)compared with that of urban students during COVID-19.Specifically,COVID-19 significantly reduced the frequency of rural students'consumption of vegetables by 1.8 percent,protein-rich foods such as soybean products and nuts by 6.0 percent,meats by 4.0 percent,aquatic products by 6.7 percent,and eggs by 5.3 percent,compared with urban students.Further,COVID-19 had a significant negative effect on the dietary diversity of students from low-and middle-income groups,with the DDS of the low-income group decreasing by 0.31 points(p<0.01)and that of the middle-income group by 0.12 points(p<0.1).展开更多
基金This study was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(71973136 and 72061147002)the 2115 Talent Development Program of China Agricultural University.
文摘Over the past few decades,the Internet has rapidly diffused across China.The spread of the Internet has had a profound economic and social impact on Chinese rural areas.Existing research shows that Internet access significantly impacts agricultural production and improves smallholder farmers’income.Beyond these,the Internet can affect other dimensions of social welfare.However,research about the impact of Internet access on dietary quality in rural China remains scarce.This study utilizes multi-period panel data from Fixed Observation Point in rural China from 2009 to 2015 to estimate the impact of Internet access on dietary quality and food consumption of rural households and conducts a causal analysis.Regression models with time and household fixed effects allow robust estimation while reducing potential issues of unobserved heterogeneity.The estimates show that Internet access has significantly increased rural household dietary quality(measured by the Chinese Diet Balance Index).Further research finds that Internet access has increased the consumption of animal products,such as aquatic and dairy products.We also examine the underlying mechanisms.Internet access improves dietary quality and food consumption mainly through increasing household income and food expenditure.These results encourage the promotion of Internet access as a valuable tool for nutritional improvements,especially in rural areas.
文摘The call for agri-food system transformation is urgent in many global development agendas(UN 2023).Food systems have contributed to economic prosperity and feeding the world,but they are also associated with numerous challenges,including climate change,continued hunger,poor diets and malnutrition,and increasing disparities(Webb et al.2020;Fanzo et al.2021).
文摘This paper offers the first empirical evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on dietary diversity among children and adolescents in urban and rural families by using panel data collected in 2019(before COVID-19)and 2020(during COVID-19)in northern China.Our study uses panel data from 2,201 primary school students and 1,341 junior high-school students to apply the difference in differences(DID)method to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on dietary diversity among students in urban and rural families.We found that the dietary diversity score(DDS)of rural students decreased by 0.295 points(p<0.01)compared with that of urban students during COVID-19.Specifically,COVID-19 significantly reduced the frequency of rural students'consumption of vegetables by 1.8 percent,protein-rich foods such as soybean products and nuts by 6.0 percent,meats by 4.0 percent,aquatic products by 6.7 percent,and eggs by 5.3 percent,compared with urban students.Further,COVID-19 had a significant negative effect on the dietary diversity of students from low-and middle-income groups,with the DDS of the low-income group decreasing by 0.31 points(p<0.01)and that of the middle-income group by 0.12 points(p<0.1).
