LAUSR

In today’s rapidly urbanising society, high-fat dietary behaviour is one of the main causes of obesity and various chronic diseases. The objective of the present study is to investigate factors associated with the consumption of oil and fat products among the Malaysian population. This research examined the oil and fat products expenditure patterns among 12798 households using the Malaysian Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2014. Results were derived from the quantile estimation on cross-sectional data. Household heads’ sociodemographic and household characteristics are used as the explanatory variables. We found positive relationships between the quantiles of household expenditure on oil and fat products and age, educational level, and household size. In terms of marital and employment status, households with married or employed heads tend to spend more on all the quantiles of oil and fat products relative to households headed by single or unemployed individuals. Furthermore, the quantiles of expenditure were higher among urban households than rural households. The findings of the present study lend support to the fact that the quantiles of household expenditure on oil and fat products vary across household heads’ sociodemographic and household characteristics. The findings had important implications for how a nationwide intervention measure directed towards reducing dietary fat intake in the Malaysian population is formulated.