Every 5th household in Georgia borrows money to cook dinner

More than half of Georgian population suffer from food availability problem, whereas every 5^th person in Georgia borrow money to buy necessary foodstuffs.

This and other noteworthy information in the Oxfam International Charity Organization’s 2016 study (National Nutrition Study in Georgia):

What do we eat?

• Half of the population in Georgia experience medium and low dietary diversity;
• Nutrition of the majority of households in this group mostly comprises cereals and vegetables;
• Fruit and meat are not available to the majority of households due to their economic condition and they are consumed mainly by the families with high income;
• The analysis of food consumed by surveyed individuals for the last 24 hours show that only 34% of respondents ate meat and 46% of households consumed fruit;
• The most severe months, when the respondents are facing shortage of food, are said to be February, March and April;
• The majority of respondents most frequently consume the following 3 dishes: 1) fried potatoes; 2) Lobio (boiled dried beans) and 3) Ajapsandali (egg-plants with tomatoes;
• 68% of low-income families cook dishes from vegetables, whereas 73% of high-income group – from meat;
• The diet of the majority of households in Georgia lacks vitamins, micronutrients, and proteins.

How do we buy food?

• Every 3^rd household in Georgia says, they don’t have enough money for purchasing food;
• Every 5^th household says, they borrow money or take bank credits to buy food;
• The average monthly income of households in Georgia totals GEL575 and almost half of it is spent on food monthly;
• A low-income household budget totals GEL219 and 65% of that sum, or GEL142, is spent on food;
• A high-income household budget makes approximately GEL1,421 and only 35% of that amount (GEL492) is spent on food.

Elderly and youth

• 53% of lone pensioners don’t consume iron rich products for months. Only 24% in this group can afford buying meat;
• More than 50% of youth aged 10-17 lack vitamins and protein rich food. The youth consume less vegetables, oils, milk and dairy products than adults, but they consume more fruit as compared to adults.

Georgian-style healthy nutrition

• TV and word of mouth are the 2 main sources of information regarding healthy eating for the population;
• Only 29% of respondents believe, their eating pattern is healthy;
• The majority of respondents believe, healthy eating implies the consumption of vegetables;
• Every 5^th respondent reports food poisoning of the household members. However, visiting doctors in case of food poisoning is quite rare.

• The respondents mostly consume the imported products;
• At the same time, the majority of consumers believe, Georgia-made products are more healthy and genuine, though they buy the imported goods, as they are often cheaper