An analysis of the changing prices of unhealthy and healthier foods: the first step towards tracking the affordability of a healthy diet
Nick Jones (CEDAR)
14.00, Tuesday 9 July. Millennium Lounge, level 5
Background
The UK government has expressed the public health importance of monitoring the affordability of a healthy diet. We show how such tracking might be done using existing government data and we investigate food prices across the period 2002-2012.
Methods
We linked economic data for 94 foods in the UK Consumer Price Index to food and nutrient data from the UK Department of Health, producing a novel dataset. Each item was 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.
Results
The mean 2012 price/1000kcal was £2.50 for less healthy items and £7.49 for more healthy items. The ANOVA results confirmed that prices had risen over the period 2002-2012, with more healthy items rising faster than less healthy in absolute terms (£0.17/1000kcal per year compared to £0.07).
Conclusions
Since 2002 healthier foods have been increasing in price at a greater rate than less healthy foods. These trends may be making healthier diets less affordable over time. The novel linkage demonstrated could be used as the basis for food price monitoring to inform public health policy.
The UK government has expressed the public health importance of monitoring the affordability of a healthy diet. We show how such tracking might be done using existing government data and we investigate food prices across the period 2002-2012.
Methods
We linked economic data for 94 foods in the UK Consumer Price Index to food and nutrient data from the UK Department of Health, producing a novel dataset. Each item was 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.
Results
The mean 2012 price/1000kcal was £2.50 for less healthy items and £7.49 for more healthy items. The ANOVA results confirmed that prices had risen over the period 2002-2012, with more healthy items rising faster than less healthy in absolute terms (£0.17/1000kcal per year compared to £0.07).
Conclusions
Since 2002 healthier foods have been increasing in price at a greater rate than less healthy foods. These trends may be making healthier diets less affordable over time. The novel linkage demonstrated could be used as the basis for food price monitoring to inform public health policy.