title: Per capita versus adult-equivalent estimates of calorie availability in household budget surveys.
abstract: This study aims to estimate an adult-equivalent scale for calorie requirements and to determine the differences between adult-equivalent and per capita measurements of calorie availability in the Brazilian population. The study used data from the 2002-2003 Brazilian Household Budget Survey. The calorie requirement for a reference adult individual was based on the mean requirements for adult males and females (2,550kcal/day). The conversion factors were defined as the ratios between the calorie requirements for each age group and gender and that of the reference adult. The adult-equivalent calorie availability levels were higher than the per capita levels, with the largest differences in rural and low-income households. Differences in household calorie availability varied from 22kcal/day (households with adults and an adolescent) to 428kcal/day (households with elderly individuals), thus showing that per capital measurements can underestimate the real calorie availability, since they overlook differences in household composition.
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. rclaro@usp.br
authors.forename: Rafael Moreira
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Claro
authors.forename: Renata Bertazzi
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Daniel Henrique
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Bandoni
authors.forename: Lenise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mondini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D002017:Budgets; D004034:Diet Surveys / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002149:Energy Intake; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D012016:Reference Values; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult