Trends in national food expenditure 1989 to 2002

The most notable trends in terms of grams of food or food group purchased per capita at the national level were a decrease in purchases of cereals and legumes, and an increase in purchases of meats, milk and dairy products, and vegetables. Some of these trends were not universal, however. The decline in cereal purchase was apparent in the lowest income quintile, but not in the highest, with the result that cereal purchase per AE in the lowest quintile (301 to 326 g/d/per AE) was more similar to that in the higher quintile in 2002 (337 g/d/per AE) than it had been in previous years (316 and 412 g/d/per AE, respectively). Per capita legume purchase showed a decreasing trend from 1989 to 2002 across all income quintiles. For meat and vegetable purchases, the increases observed at the national level were observed in the lowest but not the highest income quintile. In this period, fruit consumption increased by 29.0 g in the highest quintile, but by only 2.0 g in the lowest (Table 8). Although there was no clear trend in egg purchase at the national level, there was an apparent increase among the lowest quintile group.

Looking at regional trends, cereal purchase was higher in the South region and rural locations, showing a decreasing trend in the North region, Mexico City and urban locations. The decrease in legume purchase, on the other hand, was similar across the regions. Per capita meat purchases increased, particularly in Mexico City. The South region consumed less fruit, milk and dairy products and more sugar and cereals than the other three regions. Mexico City consumed more meat, fruit and vegetables than the other regions, and urban locations showed higher expenditures on fruit, vegetables, milk and dairy products and meat, and lower expenditures on sugar, fats and oils, legumes and cereal than rural ones (Annex 2).

TABLE 8
Mean daily consumption per AE and percentages of total expenditure on food, by food group, national total and extreme income quintiles, 1989 to 2002

Data weighted by the expansion factors.
Sample sizes: 1989, 11 531 (expanded cases, 15 947 773); 1992, 10 508 (expanded cases, 17 798 635); 1994, 12 815, (expanded cases, 19 440 278); 1996, 14 042 (expanded cases, 20 467 038); 1998, 10 952 (expanded cases, 22 163 568); 2000, 10 089 (expanded cases, 23 452 319); 2002, 17167 (expanded cases, 24 650 169).
¹ Percentage of families reporting expenditure during the seven-day survey period.
² Percentage of total food expenditure.
³ Mean grams per AE among families reporting expenditure.
⁴ Relative change.
⁵ Mean grams per capita.
Source: MHIES, 1989 to 2002.

While there was no apparent time trend in the per capita purchase of free sugar, there was a large per capita increase in the purchase of soda, particularly among the highest income group (Tables 8 and 9). Soda expenditure per AE in Mexico increased by 19 percent over the 13-year period. By income, it increased by 20 percent in the lowest quintile and by 21 percent in the highest. By region, soda expenditure showed the highest increasing trend in the Central region (27 percent). In 2002, however, the North was the region with the highest soda consumption (315 ml/AE), which was 57.5 percent higher than that of the South. Tobacco expenditure showed an increasing trend, particularly in the North region, rural locations and the highest income quintile (Annex 3). The trends observed for the extreme upper and lower income quintiles were somewhat similar when the data were disaggregated by urban and rural residence.

In summary, trends in per capita food expenditure have led to cereal and egg intakes in the lowest and highest income groups becoming more similar; food expenditures in the lowest income quintile are moving closer to those in higher income groups, but there are still large gaps in meats, milk and dairy products, vegetables and fruits. There are no apparent trends in the per capita purchases of fats and oils, or sugar, although the purchase of sugar is consistently greater among the lowest income group. Overall, the purchasing habits of the highest income quintile changed little between 1989 and 2002.