The effects of household characteristics on household food consumption and household subjective well-being in the food domain in Poland

Abstract

The general purposes of this study are to investigate the relationships among household characteristics, household food consumption behavior, and subjective well-being experienced by households regarding food consumption in the province of Lublin, Poland; to indicate the effects of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of households on their food consumption patterns; and to indicate the effects of food patterns on household subjective well-being in the food domain. Since households differ widely in household size, age-sex composition, education of household members, location, income and preferences, it is expected that they will show distinct differences in food consumption based on their household characteristics. Moreover, this study is designed to assess the relationship between household food consumption patterns and household subjective well-being in the food domain and to specify household choices in adjusting and adapting to unmet need when facing overwhelming social change. In the early 1990s, Poland changed from a centralplanned economy to a market economy. Accompanying this crisis, the Polish people experienced high inflation, high unemployment rates, and low real wages. In a changeable environment, their food consumption patterns given certain social and economic restraints, their strategies to adapt in their daily lives, especially in the specific food domain, their subjective well-being regarding food consumption experienced during that time, and the relationship among household characteristics, specific food consumption and household subjective well-being in the food domain will be the focuses of this study. Ordinary least square regressions are used to assess the above purposes. Cross-sectional data gathered from 600 households in the province of Lublin, Poland are used for this study.