This essay on caloric intake studies the effect of the change in food expenditures on the nutritional situation of low income households. Its objective is twofold: (I) To study the impact of the reduction, between 1978 and 1988, in the average propensity of food expenditure. This propensity fell during that period from 42 to 33 per cent of the total consumption expenditures. (II) To find a way to explain the improvement observed in the nutritional status of children, between 1978 and 1988, when malnutritional rates fell from 13 to 8,6 per cent, in spite of the low calorie ingestion of the two poorest quintiles (less than 60°Io of the average requirements). In the analysis of the nutritional intake only the three lowest quintiles were taken into account, because the other two surpass the caloric requirements, as defined by the WHO. In order to analyze more precisely the relationship between caloric consumption and total expenditures, the ingestion of calories, household by household, was computed. Then three corrections were introduced: (I) The per capita ingestion of calories, based on the specific requirements for each person, was calculated creating a new variable: "the equivalent adult": (II) A per capita caloric consumption per month was calculated, eliminating those months with a consumption below 700 kcal. Roth corrections, but particularly the introduction of the "equivalent adult" variable, improved considerably the caloric intake estimate. Nevertheless, the deficit persisted for the first three deciles, in average terms, vis a vis the WHO requirements. (III) Finally, the total effect and the scope of the three most important government programs that provide food subsidies, were calculated. On the average, the three programs proportionate 111 kcal daily per "equivalent adult" for those households belonging to the first quintile. Final results shows an important reduction in deficits so that new figures can be considered consistent with nutritional data. Finally, a multivariate analysis was developed for those factors that determine the ingestion of calories. It gave the following results: (I) The impact of changes in income decreases as its per capita value increases; (II) The caloric elasticities decrease with the level of income and (III) Food expenditures as a share of total expenditure decrease when the number of people of home increases.
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Article provided by Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. in its journal Cuadernos de Economía.