Linear Programming as a tool to fulfill nutritional requirements using the Honduran Basic Food Basket

Abstract

Honduras is a country with a high poverty rate which, amongst other factors, is a key contributor to problems of malnutrition in the population. Linear programming was utilized as a tool to determine the best combination of items of the essential Basic Food Basket (BFB) established by the government in order to fulfill the nutritional requirements of a family unit. In addition to information about the essential BFB, food composition tables and dietary reference intakes as well as upper intake levels were researched in order to formulate the mathematical model. Minimum wage information was also collected as well as food based dietary guidelines for Honduras. Three models were created with varying degrees of constraints and solved utilizing the Solver add in of Microsoft Excel. Optimum solution across all models only chose 33% or less of the food items in the essential BFB; the third model showed that for an average family of 4 the minimum wage is used up almost in its entirety which indicates that the BFB is not affordable for the majority of the population.