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Does Internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? Evidence from rural China

INTRODUCTION: Undernutrition and micronutrient malnutrition remain problems of significant magnitude among small-scale subsistence farmers, posing a serious threat to their health and well-being. Developing a healthy diet can effectively reduce this threat. Fortunately, the Internet can speed up the...

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Autores principales: Yang, Mingwei, Zhang, Zhiyong, Wang, Zheng
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10157090/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37153910
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1122677
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author Yang, Mingwei
Zhang, Zhiyong
Wang, Zheng
author_facet Yang, Mingwei
Zhang, Zhiyong
Wang, Zheng
author_sort Yang, Mingwei
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Undernutrition and micronutrient malnutrition remain problems of significant magnitude among small-scale subsistence farmers, posing a serious threat to their health and well-being. Developing a healthy diet can effectively reduce this threat. Fortunately, the Internet can speed up the process. METHODS: Based on survey data from 5,114 farm households in nine provinces in China, this study quantitatively assesses the impact of Internet use on the dietary quality of smallholder farmers using OLS regression models and PSM models. RESULTS/DISCUSSION: (1) Internet use can significantly contribute to dietary diversity and dietary rationality among smallholder farmers, thus optimizing their dietary structure. (2) Internet use significantly increased the average consumption amounts of milk and its products (2.9 g), fruits (21.5 g), eggs (7.5 g), and vegetables (27.1 g), while also decreasing the intake of salts (1.5 g) and oil (3.8 g). (3) The pull of internet use to improve diet quality is more significant for smallholder households with lower levels of education, older heads of households, and higher household incomes. (4) A possible mechanism is that Internet use increases household income and information access skills of rural residents, thus improving their dietary quality. In summary, governments should further promote Internet penetration in rural areas for health purposes.
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spelling pubmed-101570902023-05-05 Does Internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? Evidence from rural China Yang, Mingwei Zhang, Zhiyong Wang, Zheng Front Nutr Nutrition INTRODUCTION: Undernutrition and micronutrient malnutrition remain problems of significant magnitude among small-scale subsistence farmers, posing a serious threat to their health and well-being. Developing a healthy diet can effectively reduce this threat. Fortunately, the Internet can speed up the process. METHODS: Based on survey data from 5,114 farm households in nine provinces in China, this study quantitatively assesses the impact of Internet use on the dietary quality of smallholder farmers using OLS regression models and PSM models. RESULTS/DISCUSSION: (1) Internet use can significantly contribute to dietary diversity and dietary rationality among smallholder farmers, thus optimizing their dietary structure. (2) Internet use significantly increased the average consumption amounts of milk and its products (2.9 g), fruits (21.5 g), eggs (7.5 g), and vegetables (27.1 g), while also decreasing the intake of salts (1.5 g) and oil (3.8 g). (3) The pull of internet use to improve diet quality is more significant for smallholder households with lower levels of education, older heads of households, and higher household incomes. (4) A possible mechanism is that Internet use increases household income and information access skills of rural residents, thus improving their dietary quality. In summary, governments should further promote Internet penetration in rural areas for health purposes. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-04-20 /pmc/articles/PMC10157090/ /pubmed/37153910 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1122677 Text en Copyright © 2023 Yang, Zhang and Wang. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Nutrition
Yang, Mingwei
Zhang, Zhiyong
Wang, Zheng
Does Internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? Evidence from rural China
title Does Internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? Evidence from rural China
title_full Does Internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? Evidence from rural China
title_fullStr Does Internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? Evidence from rural China
title_full_unstemmed Does Internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? Evidence from rural China
title_short Does Internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? Evidence from rural China
title_sort does internet use connect smallholder farmers to a healthy diet? evidence from rural china
topic Nutrition
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10157090/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37153910
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1122677
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