Abstract
ObjectivesThe UK government has noted the public health importance of food prices and the affordability of a healthy diet. Yet, methods for tracking change over time have not been established. We aimed to investigate the prices of more and less healthy foods over time using existing government data on national food prices and nutrition content.MethodsWe linked economic data for 94 foods and beverages in the UK Consumer Price Index to food and nutrient data from the UK Department of Health's National Diet and Nutrition Survey, producing a novel dataset across the period 2002–2012. Each item was assigned to a food group and also categorised as either “more healthy” or “less healthy” using a nutrient profiling model developed by the Food Standards Agency. We tested statistical significance using a t-test and repeated measures ANOVA.ResultsThe mean (standard deviation) 2012 price/1000 kcal was £2.50 (0.29) for less healthy items and £7.49 (1.27) for more healthy items. The ANOVA results confirmed that all prices had risen over the period 2002–2012, but more healthy items rose faster than less healthy ones in absolute terms:£0.17 compared to £0.07/1000 kcal per year on average for more and less healthy items, respectively (p<0.001).ConclusionsSince 2002, more healthy foods and beverages have been consistently more expensive than less healthy ones, with a growing gap between them. This trend is likely to make healthier diets less affordable over time, which may have implications for individual food security and population health, and it may exacerbate social inequalities in health. The novel data linkage employed here could be used as the basis for routine food price monitoring to inform public health policy.
Highlights
One factor that might limit the uptake of healthier diets is the cost of healthier foods, which has not been recognised by the majority of UK public health policy outside of the context of national food security. [7,8] The notion that healthier foods are more expensive and that this expense contributes to the consumption of unhealthy diets is not new, and has a strong evidence base and conceptual framework to support it
[10] In contrast, just 9% of UK consumers considered a food’s healthiness to be the most important factor and only 49% placed it in the top five. [10]. These findings suggest that cost considerations may override health concerns in consumer dietary choices. Both researchers and policymakers have recognised that the price of healthy diets and foods ought to be monitored to inform public health nutrition policy but no monitoring system has hitherto been established in the UK. [8,11] Here we outline a method for examining the cost of foods in relation to nutrient content by linking existing UK government economic and nutrition surveillance data
Food price data We selected the foods and beverages in our sample from the list of goods and services used to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a tool used to measure inflation in the UK based upon a basket of goods for which prices are measured across the nation each quarter
Summary
[2] dietary recommendations, including those from the UK Department of Health (DH), discourage the consumption of such foods and emphasise vegetables and fruits, whole grains, low fat dairy foods and lean sources of protein. These findings suggest that cost considerations may override health concerns in consumer dietary choices. Both researchers and policymakers have recognised that the price of healthy diets and foods ought to be monitored to inform public health nutrition policy but no monitoring system has hitherto been established in the UK. [8,11] Here we outline a method for examining the cost of foods in relation to nutrient content by linking existing UK government economic and nutrition surveillance data. Our approach to linking such existing data could provide the basis for routine monitoring of the affordability of healthy foods and diets, thereby allowing for a better understanding of how price differs between more or less healthy foods
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