Accelerometry: a practical tool for understanding the role of energy in agriculture-nutrition linkages

Research on nutrition in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) has mainly focused on how policy and project interventions can bring about changes in diets, while changes in physical activity has been largely overlooked. Productivity-enhancing activities can impact the calorie deficits of the undernourished via their effects on energy intakes and energy expenditure. Rural transformation also has an effect on lifestyles of rural people. Changes in diets and physical activity patterns has a profound effect on livelihoods. The energy expenditure dimension has previously not been incorporated in the analysis of agriculture-nutrition linkages and livelihood analysis. Most studies capturing energy expenditure in rural households in LMICs have use methods that require a controlled setting. These can be quite expensive and are often very practical for population-level studies. Accelerometry has advanced in recent years, providing a new opportunity to collect more accurate population-level data on energy expenditure.