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. Design: 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.