Internet Access and Nutritional Intake: Evidence from Rural China

Abstract

China has been experienced a nutrition transition and has developed the largest population of internet users. We evaluate the impacts of internet access on the nutritional intake of Chinese rural residents. An IV-Probit based propensity score matching method is used to determine the impact of internet access on nutritional intake. The data were collected from 10042 rural households existed in six provinces of China. The results reveal that the rural residents with internet access have significantly higher intakes of energy, protein, and fat than those without their counterparts. Chinese rural residents with Internet access significantly increase the intakes of energy, protein, and fat by 1.35 percent (28.62 kcal), 5.02 percent (2.61 g), and 4.33 percent (3.30 g), respectively. There is heterogeneity in the intakes of energy, protein, and fat among those in different income groups. Moreover, non-staple food consumption is the main channel through which internet access affects nutritional intake. The results stress to local population to use internet for the improvement of nutritional status.