The cost implications of a healthy diet

Abstract

A balanced diet is an essential aspect of a healthy lifestyle. The cost of healthy food may affect consumer purchase. The aim of this study was to compare the prices of healthy and less healthy foods in Maltese supermarkets and to determine whether the former are really more expensive. A list of 102 foods, consisting of 51 healthy foods and their unhealthier counterparts were selected from the literature and also taking the Healthy Eating Index – 2010 into consideration. Food price data was collected from five supermarkets across the five geographical districts of Malta in order to ensure a representative sample. Foods were classified into distinct food groups and the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test was carried out to test for price differences between healthy and less healthy foods in each group. An overall analysis of the price differences was done using an unpaired t-test. The mean price was €0.63/100g (±0.55) and €0.60/100g (±0.362) for healthy and less healthy food respectively. Thus, there was a small, statistically insignificant price difference. There were differences in the distinct food groups, with healthy grains, protein sources, dairy products and miscellaneous food items being more expensive per 100g than the unhealthier groups. Such differences were statistically insignificant. Fruits and vegetables were significantly cheaper than processed food by €0.40/100g (p=0.034). In view of the fact that specific healthy items in some groups were more expensive than others compared to the less healthy items and vice versa, the overall price difference was statistically insignificant. This study therefore suggests that the cost barriers of consuming healthy foods are not insurmountable, implying that it is possible to include lower cost healthy food such as nuts, legumes, reduced fat dairy and fruits and vegetables in favour of the higher priced lean meats and processed food.