A Healthful Diet Is Not Necessarily More Expensive

Source: Tufts University
September 18, 2002 (Reviewed: September 3, 2004)

People make their food choices for all kinds of reasons, including taste, nutrition knowledge, and availability of different foods. Another factor that seems to play a significant role in people's choices is cost, with many people believing that a healthful diet is more expensive than a less healthful one. But a recent study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association provides evidence that a healthful diet, over the long run, can actually be a less expensive alternative.

Diet changes

Researchers studied 31 families who were enrolled in a weight-management program for overweight children. The family members were instructed on how to decrease their calorie and fat intake and increase the overall nutrient density of their diets by making low-calorie, high-nutrient foods (such as fruits and vegetables) the basis of their diets, while limiting their intake of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods (such as chips, pastries, and other processed foods).

In addition to tracking the participants' dietary intake and weight, the researchers also calculated each family's food cost, based on prices from a large chain supermarket in the research area.

Healthful diet was not more expensive

At the end of one year, the participants' intakes of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods had decreased significantly, as had their caloric intakes. These changes in food choices also seemed to influence cost, with average daily dietary cost decreasing from $6.77 at the beginning of the study to $5.04 over 12 months.

Families saved on cost and calories

Many people view fresh fruits and vegetables - the mainstays of a calorie-controlled diet - as too expensive to serve every day. But the authors of this study found that when families bought less snack food and more produce, their overall food bills actually went down. The families also apparently helped themselves further by not resorting to 'diet' versions of their favorite snack foods, like baked potato chips and fat-free cookies. The authors point out that these foods don't offer much of a calorie savings, and they are often more expensive than their higher fat counterparts.

Removing cost as a barrier to healthful eating

The researchers would like their results to help change the perception that cost is a barrier to healthful eating. They also advocate further research on more diverse populations, as cost might indeed be a factor for people who live in urban areas and do not have easy access to large supermarkets and discount stores. Until such studies are done, people can regard this study as encouragement to make beneficial changes in their diet without the likelihood of increased cost.

Source

• A cost-analysis of adopting a healthful diet in a family-based obesity treatment program. HA. Raynor, CK. Kilanowski, I. Esterlis,  et al., J Am Diet Assoc, 2002, vol. 102, pp. 645--656

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