Consuming a healthy and balanced diet remains a priority for reducing chronic diseases. The relationship between food prices and food choices has been put into the spotlight to understand whether they affect the quality of an individual’s diet. The difficulty for individuals to achieve a healthy balanced diet has been blamed on the skyrocketing prices of highly nutritious fresh produce compared to cheaper more appealing prices of processed foods. Socio-economic factors can influence an individual to choose cheaper alternatives and undertake a diet full of processed foods and added fats which can have possible long term effects on health due to an inadequate diet. Although the price of food is only one of many factors that may influence the
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There is no doubt that the significant price gap between healthy and unhealthy food is a primary determinant of food choice. A healthy food choice is considered to contain essential nutrients needed to maintain good health, provide a diet high in fibre, with little or no added sugar or fats and comes from a variety of sources such as fruit and vegetables. Whereas unhealthy foods are processed energy dense foods which contain high amounts of sugar and saturated fat and are not required in our diet. According to BMJ Open researchers, the price difference is $1.50 more per day, per person for a much healthier and balanced diet, which comes out to approximately $550 per year per person . This price difference is a major barrier to optimum nutrition of a healthy and balanced diet for individuals, particularly among vulnerable economic groups. Whether the cost is an obstacle depends purely on an individual income and socio-economic status. The Journal of Clinical Nutrition states low-income earners have a higher tendency to consume an unhealthy diet due to reliance on cheaper alternatives such as processed foods which lack nutritional value . Hence missing out on …show more content…
It is important to factor in the relatively high price gap of more expensive healthy foods compared to cheaper unhealthy foods which can be a leading cause of poor diet quality resulting in diet-related disease. The Australian Dietary Guidelines holds poor diet quality responsible for a higher risk of developing chronic diseases, ranging from metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease to nutritional deficiencies . The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically over the past 20 years with the increasing popularity of many fast food establishments and production of processed foods . The current proportion of obese people in the population has peaked to epidemic levels. Modern society promotes excessive unhealthy food intake due to the higher cost of healthy foods in comparison to cheaper, unhealthy alternatives. While less expensive, energy-dense foods typically have lower nutritional quality and excess calories, are linked to obesity. Short term effects of poor diet quality include stress, tiredness and our capacity to work. Long-term effects due to consumption of processed foods and drinks include type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, high cholesterol, obesity, heart problems and many any other health issues. The price difference is a small price to pay in comparison to the economic costs of diet-related chronic diseases, which would be
There is no doubt that the significant price gap between healthy and unhealthy food is a primary determinant of food choice. A healthy food choice is considered to contain essential nutrients needed to maintain good health, provide a diet high in fibre, with little or no added sugar or fats and comes from a variety of sources such as fruit and vegetables. Whereas unhealthy foods are processed energy dense foods which contain high amounts of sugar and saturated fat and are not required in our diet. According to BMJ Open researchers, the price difference is $1.50 more per day, per person for a much healthier and balanced diet, which comes out to approximately $550 per year per person . This price difference is a major barrier to optimum nutrition of a healthy and balanced diet for individuals, particularly among vulnerable economic groups. Whether the cost is an obstacle depends purely on an individual income and socio-economic status. The Journal of Clinical Nutrition states low-income earners have a higher tendency to consume an unhealthy diet due to reliance on cheaper alternatives such as processed foods which lack nutritional value . Hence missing out on …show more content…
It is important to factor in the relatively high price gap of more expensive healthy foods compared to cheaper unhealthy foods which can be a leading cause of poor diet quality resulting in diet-related disease. The Australian Dietary Guidelines holds poor diet quality responsible for a higher risk of developing chronic diseases, ranging from metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease to nutritional deficiencies . The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically over the past 20 years with the increasing popularity of many fast food establishments and production of processed foods . The current proportion of obese people in the population has peaked to epidemic levels. Modern society promotes excessive unhealthy food intake due to the higher cost of healthy foods in comparison to cheaper, unhealthy alternatives. While less expensive, energy-dense foods typically have lower nutritional quality and excess calories, are linked to obesity. Short term effects of poor diet quality include stress, tiredness and our capacity to work. Long-term effects due to consumption of processed foods and drinks include type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, high cholesterol, obesity, heart problems and many any other health issues. The price difference is a small price to pay in comparison to the economic costs of diet-related chronic diseases, which would be