Digital Literacy and Food Consumption Structure: Evidence from Rural China
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
2.1. Digital Literacy
2.2. Theoretical Framework
2.2.1. The Impact of Digital Literacy on Food Consumption Structure
2.2.2. Mechanisms of Digital Literacy in Relation to Food Consumption Structure
3. Methods
3.1. Data Sources
3.1.1. Participants
3.1.2. Procedure
3.1.3. Survey Implementation and Quality Control
3.2. Measurement of Key Variables
3.3. Descriptive Statistics
3.4. Regression Model
4. Analysis of Empirical Results
4.1. Baseline Regression Results
4.2. Robustness Tests
4.2.1. Replace Explanatory Variables
4.2.2. Replace Explained Variables
4.2.3. Shrink the Sample
4.2.4. Endogeneity Analysis: Instrumental Variable Estimation
4.3. Heterogeneity Analysis
4.3.1. Heterogeneity Analysis Based on Region
4.3.2. Heterogeneity Analysis Based on Education Level
4.3.3. Heterogeneity Analysis Based on Age
5. Mechanism Analysis
5.1. Mechanism Analysis of Dietary Health Awareness
5.2. Mechanism Analysis of Food Safety Awareness
6. Discussion
7. Conclusions and Policy Implications
7.1. Conclusions
7.2. Policy Implications
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Standard Floor | Index Description |
---|---|
Information skills [8,57] | Browsing news online through mobile phones or the internet: Yes = 1; No = 0 |
Following news events through mobile phones or the internet: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Obtaining employment and entrepreneurship information through mobile phones or the internet: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Purchasing data analysis services through mobile phones or the internet: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Media application skills [57] | Engaging in recreational activities through mobile phones or the internet: Yes = 1; No = 0 |
Accessing information about recreational activities through mobile phones or the internet: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Production skills [57,58] | Obtaining production guidance information through mobile phones or the internet: Yes = 1; No = 0 |
Using mobile phones or the internet for product transactions: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Life skills [58] | Acquiring life-related knowledge through mobile phones or the internet: Yes = 1; No = 0 |
Engaging in communication and social activities via online platforms (e.g., WeChat, Weibo, QQ, Zhihu, Douban): Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Utilizing mobile phones or the internet for learning and educational purposes: Yes = 1; No = 0 |
Primary Index | Secondary Index | Index Description |
---|---|---|
Dietary health awareness | Health awareness | Whether there is a conscious effort to learn about health or wellness knowledge: Yes = 1; No = 0 |
Awareness of sugar control | Whether there is a conscious effort to manage sugar intake: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Awareness of salt control | Whether there is a conscious effort to manage salt intake: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Awareness of oil control | Whether there is a conscious effort to manage oil intake: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Food safety awareness | Chemical residues | Concerned about issues related to chemical residues such as pesticides and insecticides: Yes = 1; No = 0 |
Additive | Concerned about the use of additives such as preservatives and colorants: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Food spoilage | Concerned about food spoilage issues: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Counterfeit foods | Concerned about issues related to adulteration and the presence of substandard or counterfeit food products: Yes = 1; No = 0 | |
Biotech foods | Concerned about the use of biotechnology, including genetically modified organisms: Yes = 1; No = 0 |
Variables | Definitions | Mean | SD |
---|---|---|---|
Explained variables | |||
Diet quality divergence (DQD) index | Diet quality divergence index: sum divergences over seven food categories to measure overall diet quality (100%) | 564.526 | 523.877 |
Explanatory variables | |||
Digital literacy | Digital literacy measurement index score: 0~1 | 0.183 | 0.147 |
Mechanism variables | |||
Dietary health awareness | Dietary health awareness measurement index score: 0~1 | 0.304 | 0.230 |
Food safety awareness | Food safety awareness measurement index score: 0~1 | 0.571 | 0.406 |
Control variables | |||
Age | 20–29 years = 1; 30–39 years = 2; 40–49 years = 3; 50–59 years = 4; 60–69 years = 5; 70–79 years = 6; 80–89 years = 7 | 4.028 | 1.197 |
Marital status | Not married = 0; Married = 1 | 0.912 | 0.284 |
Educational attainment | Number of years of education completed | 7.937 | 3.293 |
Employment status | Whether engaged in full-time agricultural work: No = 0; Yes = 1 | 0.743 | 0.437 |
Subjective health | Whether diagnosed with a chronic disease: No = 0; Yes = 1 | 0.625 | 0.484 |
Income level | Low income = 1; Lower-middle income = 2; Middle income = 3; Upper-middle income = 4; High income = 5 | 2.920 | 1.397 |
Elderly proportion | Number of family members aged 60 and above who have dined at home in the past month | 0.324 | 0.385 |
Children proportion | Number of children aged 12 and under who have dined at home in the past month | 0.103 | 0.170 |
Variables | (1) | (2) |
---|---|---|
Digital literacy | −205.153 *** | −170.160 ** |
(51.964) | (69.084) | |
Age (the group aged 29 and below is used as the reference group) | ||
Aged 30–39 | 23.381 | |
(53.692) | ||
Aged 40–49 | 25.304 | |
(51.422) | ||
Aged 50–59 | 69.494 | |
(53.316) | ||
Aged 60–69 | 32.906 | |
(52.713) | ||
Aged 70–79 | 22.861 | |
(56.715) | ||
Aged 80 and above | 10.157 | |
(108.612) | ||
Marital status | −104.420 *** | |
(33.226) | ||
Educational attainment | −1.542 | |
(3.640) | ||
Employment status | 39.940 ** | |
(17.074) | ||
Subjective health | −0.436 | |
(20.968) | ||
Children proportion | −254.584 *** | |
(63.165) | ||
Elderly proportion | 13.824 | |
(31.280) | ||
Income level (the low-income group is used as the reference group) | ||
Lower-middle income | 26.362 | |
(23.979) | ||
Middle income | 6.190 | |
(23.715) | ||
Upper-middle income | 5.340 | |
(25.026) | ||
High income | 63.812 | |
(39.315) | ||
Provincial fixed effect | YES | YES |
Constant | 1132.222 *** | 1155.232 *** |
(51.379) | (77.836) | |
Number | 2827 | 2827 |
R-squared | 0.147 | 0.161 |
Variables | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Replace Explanatory Variables | Replace Explained Variables | Shrink the Sample (<75) | Shrink the Sample (<65) | |
Internet usage | −70.685 ** | |||
(31.381) | ||||
Digital literacy | 0.339 ** | −168.048 ** | −169.696 ** | |
(0.160) | (82.470) | (71.045) | ||
Control variable | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Provincial fixed effect | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Constant | 1182.962 *** | 5.205 *** | 1164.433 *** | 1169.271 *** |
(80.161) | (0.179) | (89.521) | (82.929) | |
Number | 2827 | 2827 | 2172 | 2711 |
R-squared | 0.160 | 0.166 | 0.152 | 0.157 |
Variables | (1) |
---|---|
Second stage | |
Digital literacy | −1217.515 *** |
(440.179) | |
Control variable | YES |
Provincial fixed effect | Yes |
Constant | 1340.751 *** |
(114.751) | |
Number | 2827 |
R-squared | 0.096 |
First stage | |
Instrumental variable I | 0.158 *** |
(0.038) | |
Instrumental variable II | 0.026 *** |
(0.003) | |
Cragg–Donald Wald F-statistic | 42.63 |
Variables | (1) Region | (2) Education | (3) Age | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Region | Southern Region | Low Education | High Education | Youth | Middle-Aged and Elderly | |
Digital literacy | −68.238 | −153.255 ** | −427.506 *** | −43.576 | −40.955 | −212.705 ** |
(120.475) | (61.169) | (101.762) | (84.752) | (86.767) | (90.135) | |
Control variable | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Provincial fixed effect | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Constant | 928.327 *** | 494.262 *** | 1265.603 *** | 948.856 *** | 1108.325 *** | 1213.739 *** |
(150.370) | (47.644) | (182.746) | (203.607) | (150.890) | (79.981) | |
Number | 1508 | 1319 | 1075 | 1752 | 511 | 2316 |
R-squared | 0.022 | 0.026 | 0.230 | 0.133 | 0.224 | 0.157 |
Variables | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dietary Health Awareness | Health Awareness | Sugar Control | Salt Control | Oil Control | |
Digital literacy | 0.297 *** | 0.467 *** | 0.253 *** | 0.276 *** | 0.190 *** |
(0.057) | (0.069) | (0.070) | (0.068) | (0.070) | |
Control variable | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Provincial fixed effect | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Constant | 0.422 *** | 0.053 | 0.581 *** | 0.572 *** | 0.482 *** |
(0.066) | (0.083) | (0.077) | (0.073) | (0.077) | |
Number | 2827 | 2827 | 2827 | 2827 | 2827 |
R-squared | 0.097 | 0.097 | 0.068 | 0.073 | 0.076 |
Variables | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Food Safety Awareness | Chemical Residues | Additives | Food Spoilage | Counterfeit Foods | Biotech Foods | |
Digital literacy | 0.133 *** | 0.178 ** | 0.195 *** | 0.039 | 0.148 ** | 0.104 ** |
(0.036) | (0.072) | (0.068) | (0.073) | (0.066) | (0.042) | |
Control variable | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Provincial fixed effect | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
Constant | 0.315 *** | 0.343 *** | 0.374 *** | 0.442 *** | 0.279 *** | 0.136 *** |
(0.046) | (0.086) | (0.083) | (0.087) | (0.080) | (0.047) | |
Number | 2827 | 2827 | 2827 | 2827 | 2827 | 2827 |
R-squared | 0.082 | 0.056 | 0.070 | 0.033 | 0.040 | 0.054 |
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Xiong, Y.; Lin, Y.; Zhang, S.; Xing, T.; Wen, X. Digital Literacy and Food Consumption Structure: Evidence from Rural China. Nutrients 2025, 17, 2207. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17132207
Xiong Y, Lin Y, Zhang S, Xing T, Wen X. Digital Literacy and Food Consumption Structure: Evidence from Rural China. Nutrients. 2025; 17(13):2207. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17132207
Chicago/Turabian StyleXiong, Yanling, Yuchan Lin, Sihui Zhang, Tianyang Xing, and Xiaowei Wen. 2025. "Digital Literacy and Food Consumption Structure: Evidence from Rural China" Nutrients 17, no. 13: 2207. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17132207
APA StyleXiong, Y., Lin, Y., Zhang, S., Xing, T., & Wen, X. (2025). Digital Literacy and Food Consumption Structure: Evidence from Rural China. Nutrients, 17(13), 2207. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17132207