Prices Of Unhealthy Foods Research Articles

Do taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages influence food purchases?

Interest in taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages as a public health tool has increased in recent years. This paper aimed to summarise recent evidence of the impact of taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages on food purchases, and discuss opportunities to advance knowledge and policy impact. Evaluations of taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages have shown reductions in purchases of targeted unhealthy products and nutrients. Similarly, data from multiple sources demonstrate that as prices of unhealthy foods and beverages increase, purchase volume decreases. However, studies indicate potential for substitution to non-taxed unhealthy foods, which needs to be factored into taxation design. Taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages are a promising strategy to improve population diets. Further research is required to understand food industry responses to tax implementation, as well as the impact of taxes on population and planetary health outcomes.

An Assessment of the Food Retail Environment in Counties with High Obesity Rates in Mississippi

ABSTRACT Low dietary quality and high obesity rates have been associated with poor food environments. Existing literature on food environments generally uses store audits, which presents several limitations. Our study addresses this shortcoming by using store-level scanner data to analyze prices and store healthfulness across counties with high and low obesity rates in Mississippi. We find that overall food prices are lower in counties with higher obesity rates, which seems to be driven by the lower prices of unhealthy foods. In contrast, healthy foods are more expensive in counties with higher rates of obesity compared with the rest of the state.

Using Group Model Building to Describe the System Driving Unhealthy Eating and Identify Intervention Points: A Participatory, Stakeholder Engagement Approach in the Caribbean.

Many Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean experience a triple burden of malnutrition with high rates of obesity, undernutrition in children, and iron deficiency anemia in women of reproductive age, driven by an inadequate, unhealthy diet. This study aimed to map the complex dynamic systems driving unhealthy eating and to identify potential points for intervention in three dissimilar countries. Stakeholders from across the food system in Jamaica (n = 16), St. Kitts and Nevis (n = 19), and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (n = 6) engaged with researchers in two group model building (GMB) workshops in 2018. Participants described and mapped the system driving unhealthy eating, identified points of intervention, and created a prioritized list of intervention strategies. Stakeholders were also interviewed before and after the workshops to provide their perspectives on the utility of this approach. Stakeholders described similar underlying systems driving unhealthy eating across the three countries, with a series of dominant feedback loops identified at multiple levels. Participants emphasized the importance of the relative availability and price of unhealthy foods, shifting cultural norms on eating, and aggressive advertising from the food industry as dominant drivers. They saw opportunities for governments to better regulate advertising, disincentivize unhealthy food options, and bolster the local agricultural sector to promote food sovereignty. They also identified the need for better coordinated policy making across multiple sectors at national and regional levels to deliver more integrated approaches to improving nutrition. GMB proved to be an effective tool for engaging a highly diverse group of stakeholders in better collective understanding of a complex problem and potential interventions.

Healthy and Unhealthy Food Prices across Neighborhoods and Their Association with Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Proportion Black/Hispanic.

This paper evaluates variation in food prices within and between neighborhoods to improve our understanding of access to healthy foods in urbanized areas and potential economic incentives and barriers to consuming a higher-quality diet. Prices of a selection of healthier foods (dairy, fruit juice, and frozen vegetables) and unhealthy foods (soda, sweets, and salty snacks) were obtained from 1953 supermarkets across the USA during 2009-2012 and were linked to census block group socio-demographics. Analyses evaluated associations between neighborhood SES and proportion Black/Hispanic and the prices of healthier and unhealthy foods, and the relative price of healthier foods compared with unhealthy foods (healthy-to-unhealthy price ratio). Linear hierarchical regression models were used to explore geospatial variation and adjust for confounders. Overall, the price of healthier foods was nearly twice as high as the price of unhealthy foods ($0.590 vs $0.298 per serving; healthy-to-unhealthy price ratio of 1.99). This trend was consistent across all neighborhood characteristics. After adjusting for covariates, no association was found between food prices (healthy, unhealthy, or the healthy-to-unhealthy ratio) and neighborhood SES. Similarly, there was no association between the proportion Black/Hispanic and healthier food price, a very small positive association with unhealthy price, and a modest negative association with the healthy-to-unhealthy ratio. No major differences were seen in food prices across levels of neighborhood SES and proportion Black/Hispanic; however, the price of healthier food was twice as expensive as unhealthy food per serving on average.

Is the Cost of the Mediterranean Diet a Barrier for its Promotion in the Communities?

A persuasive body of evidence from prospective cohort studies suggests that the Mediterranean diet (MD) is protective against the occurrence of several different health outcomes [1]. The diet refers to a dietary profile commonly available in the early 1960s in the Mediterranean regions and characterized by a high consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes, and complex carbohydrates, with a moderate consumption of fish, and the consumption of olive oil as the main source of fats, a low-to-moderate amount of red wine during meals and a rare consumption of red meat. Thus, its adoption is very important among people of all ages. However, the higher cost per calorie of some recommended healthful foods included in the MD, such as fruit and vegetables, may restrict their use by people with limited resources [2]. Regarding studies investigating the MD in relation to its cost, a cohort study of Spanish university graduates showed that a Mediterranean dietary pattern is more expensive to follow than a western dietary pattern [3]. A more recent cross-sectional study on a sample of Italian subjects revealed that a higher income was independently associated with a greater adherence to MD-like eating patterns [4]. On the other hand, a nutritional intervention study conducted in a group of North American women showed that promoting a Mediterranean dietary pattern need not necessarily be associated with higher overall dietary costs [5]. Educating consumers about lower cost foods while selectively purchasing limited amounts of higher cost ones would be one solution for avoiding increased food expenses in the frame of a healthy diet. Another way to improve food preferences in communities and especially in those of low-income would be to increase the price of unhealthy foods in parallel with subsidies on healthy foods. Further studies on whether cost should be considered or not as a barrier in the adoption of the MD would shed more light on this issue.

Fiscal food policy: Equity and practice

When it comes to buying food, price is influential, but is a 'fat tax' the answer to curb obesity? Dr Stuart G Nicholls from Lancaster University, Assistant Professor Dr Wencke Gwozdz and Professor, Dr Lucia A Reisch from Copenhagen Business School and Dr Kristin Voigt from Lancaster University look at whether a fiscal policy would work Studies indicate a trend of increasing obesity with a higher prevalence in lower socioeconomic status groups. Implicated in this increase is the cost of food, with research suggesting that price is a decisive factor in food purchasing.1 With energy-dense foods being less expensive than healthier foods,2 low-income groups in particular may be driven towards unhealthier foods. The potential for fiscal policy options as a strategy to tackle diet-related disease is increasing with the failure of educational and informational interventions to achieve population-level changes in obesity.3,4,5 In Romania, a tax on foods such as hamburgers, chips, fizzy drinks and other fast foods with high sugar and fat levels has been proposed.6 Such a policy would be unique, including savoury as well as sweet food items. However, to date these proposals have yet to be enacted into policy. Perhaps the most advanced policy proposal is that of Denmark. As part of a wide-ranging tax reform, the Danish government plans to implement a new tax on foods by July 2011. The tax is valid for food products such as meat, dairy products, animal fats and vegetable oils if the content of saturated fat exceeds 2.3%. The tax is DKK 16 (euro2.15) per kg of saturated fat in food products, with an expected increase in food prices of up to 35%, depending on the food category. A 25% increase in taxation on ice cream, chocolate and sweets has also been proposed. The legislation, proposed in July 2010 and to be phased in by 2019, is estimated to contribute DKK 2.75 billion (euro370 million) to the overall tax reform. However, the policy has failed to progress through parliament, in large part due to strong public resistance. This has already led to a reduction in the proposed levy, from DKK 40 (euro5.40) per kg of saturated fat to 16 DKK (euro2.15). Despite this reduction, there have been further delays with the law yet to pass through parliament. Are taxes on unhealthy food a new initiative? Not really. In the UK, food bought in restaurants and take-aways, as well as all confectionery, attract a sales tax (VAT) of 20%, while other food sales do not. In France, sweets, chocolates, margarine and vegetable fat are subject to VAT of 20.6%, while other foods attract only 5.5% VAT.7 These taxes may be seen to correspond to items considered to be particularly unhealthy. The difference between the existing and proposed schemes lies in the rationale, with the most recent proposals having the explicit aim of shifting purchasing patterns away from energydense, unhealthy foods towards more nutritious alternatives. As exemplified in Denmark, concerns have been expressed over such policies and, while there is uncertainty regarding the potential impact of taxation policies, a key argument against taxation rests on the ethical principles of equity and social justice. Taxation of unhealthy foods, without subsidization of healthier options, can be seen as regressive, as lower-income groups spend a greater share of their income on food, and also because consumption of unhealthy foods is greater among less-affluent groups.8,9 Can such concerns be alleviated if taxation is combined with subsidies on healthy foods? Depending on how they are structured, tax-subsidy schemes can, in principle, allow for higher prices of unhealthy foods to be offset by lower prices on healthy foods. Thus, low-income groups can keep their food budgets constant if foodpurchasing behaviour is changed. This would go some way towards alleviating concerns about regressivity. In addition to impacts in terms of relative costs, we must consider whether tax-subsidy schemes might have differential effects in terms of health outcomes. …

Prices of Unhealthy Foods, Food Stamp Program Participation, and Body Weight Status Among U.S. Low-Income Women

This paper examines the interactive effect between the price of unhealthy foods and Food Stamp Program participation on body weight status among low-income women in the United States. We merged the panel data of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort in 1985-2002 and the Cost of Living Index data compiled by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association by using geographic identifiers. Using the merged data, we used panel econometric models to examine the impact of unhealthy food prices on the food stamp-eligible U.S. population. Our results indicate that higher prices for unhealthy food can partially offset the positive association between Food Stamp Program participation and bodyweight among low-income women.