An empirical study of Taiwan's food security index.
OBJECTIVE
The FAO has developed an approach for estimating the prevalence of undernourishment. Based on the FAO method Taiwan has a prevalence of undernourishment of 3.98%, which is higher than that of some developing countries. As this is not a true reflection of the status of undernourishment in our nation, the purpose of the present study was to modify the FAO methodology for Taiwan.


METHODS
Two factors were considered in the modified version. As the minimum dietary energy requirement was the main factor contributing to the inflated prevalence in Taiwan, we adjusted for a lighter physical activity level, based on the average BMI of the Taiwanese population, and calculated a new minimum dietary energy requirement. We then fitted a second-order polynomial regression model for prediction of per capita dietary energy supply.


RESULTS
The adjusted minimum dietary energy requirement was reduced to 7648 kJ/d or 7765 kJ/d compared with the original value of 8054 kJ/d. This resulted in a decrease of the prevalence of undernourishment in Taiwan to 2.5% or 3.0%, which is much closer to that of other countries with the same level of economic development. The second-order polynomial regression model efficiently reduced the variation in dietary energy consumption and resulted in an undernourishment prevalence of less than 2.5%.


CONCLUSIONS
This new adapted method is more appropriate for Taiwan. It is recommended that each country evaluates the appropriateness of the FAO approach for its population.
Yeh
Chih-Yang
CY
Graduate Institute of Applied Statistics, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Liao
Pei-San
PS
Liu
Chieh-Yu
CY
Liu
Jeng-Fu
JF
Chang
Hsing-Yi
HY
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015995:Prevalence; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult