Jenkins Rosemary H, Vamos Eszter P, Taylor-Robinson David, Mason Kate E, Laverty Anthony A
Public Health Policy Evaluation Unit, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
BMJ Nutr Prev Health. 2022 Mar 4;5(1):72-86. doi: 10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000346. eCollection 2022.
Changes in public sector service spending may influence food consumption. We make use of changing local authority (LA) expenditure in England to assess impacts on food purchasing. We examine total LA service spending and explore two potential pathways: highways and transport spending which may affect access to food; and housing service expenditure which may affect household resources available to purchase foods.
Longitudinal panel survey at the LA level (2008-2015) using fixed effects linear regression.
324 LAs in England.
Expenditure per capita on total LA services, highways and transport services, and housing services.
LA area estimates of purchasing of fresh fruits and vegetables, high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) foods, and takeaways at home, expressed as a percentage of total food and drink expenditure.
Total LA service spending decreased by 17% on average between 2008 and 2015. A 10% decrease in total LA spending was associated with a 0.071 percentage point decrease in HFSS (95% CI -0.093 to -0.050) and a 0.015 percentage point increase in takeaways (95% CI 0.006 to 0.024). A 10% decrease in highways and transport expenditure was associated with a 0.006 percentage point decrease in fruit and vegetable purchasing (95% CI -0.009 to -0.002) and a 0.006 percentage point increase in takeaway purchasing (95% CI 0.001 to 0.010). These associations were seen in urban areas only when analyses were stratified by rural/urban area status. A 0.006 percentage point decrease in HFSS purchasing was also seen with a 10% decrease in housing expenditure (95% CI -0.010 to -0.002).
Changes in LA spending may have impacts on food purchasing which are evident at the area level. This suggests that in addition to more prominent impacts such as foodbank use, austerity measures may have mixed impacts on food purchasing behaviours among the wider population. Individual-level research is needed to further elucidate these relationships.
公共部门服务支出的变化可能会影响食品消费。我们利用英格兰地方当局（LA）支出的变化来评估对食品购买的影响。我们考察了地方当局的总服务支出，并探讨了两条潜在途径：可能影响食品获取的公路和交通支出；以及可能影响家庭食品购买可用资源的住房服务支出。
在地方当局层面进行纵向面板调查（2008 - 2015年），采用固定效应线性回归。
英格兰的324个地方当局。
地方当局总服务、公路和交通服务以及住房服务的人均支出。
地方当局区域内新鲜水果和蔬菜、高脂肪、高糖和高盐（HFSS）食品以及家庭外卖购买量的估计值，以食品和饮料总支出的百分比表示。
2008年至2015年间，地方当局总服务支出平均下降了17%。地方当局总支出下降10%与HFSS购买量下降0.071个百分点（95%置信区间 - 0.093至 - 0.050）以及外卖购买量增加0.015个百分点（95%置信区间0.006至0.024）相关。公路和交通支出下降10%与水果和蔬菜购买量下降0.006个百分点（95%置信区间 - 0.009至 - 0.002）以及外卖购买量增加0.006个百分点（95%置信区间0.001至0.010）相关。仅在按农村/城市地区状况分层分析时，这些关联在城市地区可见。住房支出下降10%也与HFSS购买量下降0.006个百分点相关（95%置信区间 - 0.010至 - 0.002）。
地方当局支出的变化可能会对食品购买产生影响，这在区域层面是明显的。这表明，除了诸如食品银行使用等更显著的影响外，紧缩措施可能会对更广泛人群的食品购买行为产生复杂的影响。需要进行个体层面的研究来进一步阐明这些关系。
