A note on nutrition and economics.
Although the interest of economists in food has a long tradition, mainly from the work of Malthus, it is only since 1945 that a more microeconomic approach has been applied. Recently attention has shifted from food, per se, to nutrition and its role as a determinant of health status. The purpose of this note is to comprehend how nutritional research, and nutritional advice, can be understood in an economic framework. For this purpose the "new" characteristics theory associated with Lancaster is appropriate. Such economic research is relevant to the policy concern of the relative emphasis on curative vs preventive health services.
D004032:Diet; D004470:Economics, Medical; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009752:Nutritional Status