A Bivariate Count Modelling Approach in Analyzing Convenience and Non-Convenience Consumption of Food Preference in Windhoek, Namibia

Laina Mbongo, University of Namibia
Lawrence Kazembe, University of Namibia
Lillian Pazvakawambwa, University of Namibia

The nutritional transition has affected the dietary pattern and nutrient intake greatly and has led to a rise in the purchases and consumption of processed and convenience foods, which are prepared foods designed for simplicity of consumption but are associated with rising rates of diet-related non-communicable diseases in Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This chapter jointly analyzed paired consumption of both convenience and non-convenience food that are exhibiting correlations, using a household food security survey, conducted in Windhoek. This is illustrated by applying both the untruncated and the right-truncated bivariate Poisson models to examine factors that influence convenience and non-convenience food consumption patterns both on a weekly and monthly basis. Overall, the untruncated (conditional/marginal) model fitted the data better. Whereas the consumption of food on a monthly basis was more on the non-convenience foods, the purchases of convenience was frequent on a weekly basis and from multiple food sources.