The cost of a basket of food compatible with healthy eating guidelines is higher than a comparable basket of standard food

Abstract

Background: Many people in the UK are not following healthy eating guidelines and consume fewer fruit, vegetables and oily fish and more saturated fat, nonmilk extrinsic sugars and salt than recommended (SACN, 2008). The relatively high cost of certain foods compatible with healthy eating and the lower price of others has been suggested as one of many barriers to achieving nutritional goals (Withall et al., 2009). Findings from published studies indicate that foods compatible with health eating are relatively more expensive but these studies were undertaken more than 10 years ago (Mooney, 1990; Cade et al., 1999). The aim of this study was to compare the current costs of a basket of food compatible with healthy eating guidelines (CHE) and a ‘standard’ basket of food in two locations differing in socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: The cost of food in four shopping baskets was determined by collecting the cheapest prices for 500 g equivalent of food from supermarkets in two locations. Two of the baskets were designed to replicate those used in a similar study by Mooney (1990), [A] containing CHE food and [B] containing standard food. The foods were updated through a defined process to reflect current intake and changes in dietary guidelines since 1990 with basket [C] containing current CHE food and basket [D] current standard food. Data were collected in an affluent location and a deprived location, 14 miles apart in the south of England. Locations were identified by SES using data from the Association of Public Health Observatories (2010). The difference between the cost of the CHE basket and standard food basket was examined using a one-tailed sign test (A versus B and C versus D) and the difference between the cost of each basket in the two different areas was examined using a paired t-test (A versus A, B versus B, C versus C, D versus D). Results: The cost of the CHE baskets was significantly more expensive than the standard baskets for both the original and current foods in both locations (Table 1). The difference between the cost of baskets from the two locations was small (range: −2 to +91 pence) and was not significantly different. Table 1. Comparison of a healthy eating guidelines compatible basket of food with a standard basket Location CHE baskets (£) Standard baskets (£) Cost difference P (£) (%) Affluent A 13.92 B 10.17 +3.75 +26.9 % 0.003 C 19.67 D 12.46 +7.21 +36.7 % 0.011 Deprived A 13.74 B 09.31 +4.43 +32.2 % 0.003 C 18.76 D 12.48 +6.28 +33.5 % 0.029 Discussion: The finding that CHE food is more expensive is comparable with the results from studies by Mooney (1990) and Cade et al. (1999) indicating little change in the relative cost of food, despite developments in eating patterns and dietary guidelines over the last 10–20 years. Although the location had no detectable impact on the cost, it is likely that the higher price of CHE food may deter people with lower incomes from purchasing them and thus may be a barrier to meeting current guidelines. This has implications for the approaches taken by healthcare professionals working to promote adherence to dietary guidelines. The limitations of the study include the hypothetical nature of pricing baskets of food, although this was used because it is a more practical method of collecting data than assessing individual or household food expenditure. Further studies using these methodologies are required to identify how higher prices impact on purchasing and consumption. Conclusions: The cost of a basket of CHE food continues to be more expensive than the cost of a comparable standard food basket but is not influenced by SES of location of purchase.