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If you want to follow a healthy diet in the USA it will cost you more money, researchers revealed in the journal Health Affairs. According to their analysis, those wishing to follow the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 - which means consuming more potassium, vitamin, calcium and dietary fiber - most will have more expensive grocery bills. For people on limited budgets, this is going to be very difficult, if not impossible, many believe.
The researchers gathered data on over 1,000 adults in King County, Washington, to work out how much it would cost to make up for their dietary shortfall in order to meet federal dietary requirements. If the average American consumer upped their potassium intake to federal guideline levels, they would have to spend an extra $380 per year - and that is just for potassium.
Co-author Pablo Monsivais, acting assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and the Center for Public Health Nutrition, School of Public Health, at the University of Washington, in Seattle, says that especially during lean times, many Americans will find it hard to meet healthy diet recommendations. He believes the government should do more to help.
Monsivais said:
"Given the times we're in, I think we really need to make our health guidance, in particular the dietary guidelines, more relevant to Americans."
The authors also found that for each 1% increase in daily calories from saturated fat and added sugar, an average family's food monthly food bill declined significantly.
An extra 35 cents a day would have to be spent on dietary fiber and vitamin D by the average family in order to get their dietary intake to meet national guidelines, the authors found. Calcium would not add much to their bill, they added; most people are getting enough or very near enough calcium.
They found that those who already spent the most on food came closest to the overall recommended daily values.
Some people say that subsidies on agricultural products should be revised, so that the focus is on healthy foods. They say that if federal money is already being spent, perhaps it is just a question of targeting it better.
The authors concluded:
"These findings suggest that improving the American diet will require additional guidance for consumers, especially those with little budget flexibility, and new policies to increase the availability and reduce the cost of healthful foods."
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
"Following Federal Guidelines To Increase Nutrient Consumption May Lead To Higher Food Costs For Consumers"
Pablo Monsivais, Anju Aggarwal and Adam Drewnowski
Health Aff August 2011 vol. 30 no. 8 1471-1477
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posted by dan mccoy on 6 Aug 2011 at 4:27 pmOf course its more expensive...the big food producers have found they can charge more for a product is they label it "organic" or "natural" whether it is or not.
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posted by Jason on 6 Aug 2011 at 4:28 pm
Eating unhealthy plus the cost of triple bypass/cancer treatment/ diabetes treatment is still less than eating healthy.
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posted by Pauline Redgrave on 6 Aug 2011 at 4:28 pm
It is true. Rather than subsidize crops that lead to high sugar high fat foods, we should look at switching those funds to vegetable and fruit growers.
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posted by Mike on 6 Aug 2011 at 4:51 pm
I agree we have a serious problem with respect to the cost of produce in particular. When one medium sized navel orange (not even sweet btw) is 80 cents and a double cheeseburger is on the dollar menu at Wendys, this tells me something is seriously wrong. If I need 2000 calories per day to survive and I'm supposed to get a majority of them from fruits and vegetables then I better have extremely deep pockets these days. Organic produce is great, I buy it all the time but extremely expensive and half the weight. A bag of 3 organic avocados goes for nearly six dollars and their typically half rotten as well. Here'$ to your health!
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