2023-09-29 19:45:29
Are the healthiest foods the most expensive? And the least healthy, the cheapest? Is this perception that many people have true, or is it just a false sensation? In a new study, this has been investigated.
This research, framed within the PREDIMED-Plus project, has been carried out by the team of Cristina Bouzas Velasco, from the Networked Biomedical Research Center for Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) in Spain, and Josep A. Tur, from CIBEROBN and the Balearic Islands Health Research Institute Foundation (IdISBa), in Spain. Numerous scientists linked to PREDIMED from CIBEROBN, CIBERESP and CIBERDEM in different institutions have also participated in this work. The objective of the work was to analyze how the price of food can influence the choice of diet and its impact on health.
Shopping basket for a healthy diet is associated with a higher price compared to less healthy alternatives. This is demonstrated by the new research.
The study, especially relevant at the current time in which the prices of some foods have been gradually increasing, showed that, taking into account the eating habits of the participating people, more than 6,800, those with greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet, an anti-inflammatory diet or a healthy version of the pro-vegetarian dietary pattern had higher costs in their shopping basket.
In the research, the dietary intake of the participants was calculated through a food frequency questionnaire, considering various factors such as the severity of metabolic syndrome or adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The economic cost of food has been obtained from the database of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during the recruitment period of the participants (2015-2017), and the total cost of the diet adjusted per 1,000 kcal has been calculated. .
Research group led by Josep Tur at CIBEROBN. (Photo: CIBEROBN)
Higher dietary costs are related to higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish and shellfish, white and processed meat, coffee and tea, sweetened beverages, and alcoholic beverages. As the cost of the diet was lower, the consumption of several foods was higher: potatoes and refined grains, eggs, milk and dairy products, fats and oils (including olive oil), sweets and pastries, and processed foods .
These findings suggest that food cost may be a crucial factor in dietary decisions and that prices may play a significant role in interventions and policies aimed at improving diet quality and preventing diet-related chronic diseases. Dr. Tur highlights the importance of this study “to understand the dynamics between food costs and diet quality in vulnerable populations.”
Socioeconomic and sociocultural levels
Previous studies carried out in children or adolescent populations associated a healthier diet with a higher cost. Low parental sociocultural and socioeconomic status was related to lower spending on food and, therefore, less healthy diets.
Healthier and more expensive diets in boys and girls were achieved through a varied diet, rich in fish and fruits, with a lower energy density. However, this association was true for poor or moderate diet quality, when measured by adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Within the high dietary quality range, the cost was similar. Therefore, the Mediterranean diet may be a dietary pattern that is easy to maintain and limited by cost when adherence is high.
Gender differentiation
Female participants, as well as those who live alone, were more likely to spend more money on their diet. Lower energy intakes and higher levels of energy expenditure were related to higher dietary costs per 1000 kcal/day. Those with higher education and non-smokers spend more money on their diet. On the other hand, the cost of the diet was directly associated with the prevalence of hyperglycemia and abdominal obesity, and inversely associated with the prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL cholesterol.
Furthermore, adjusted analysis revealed that gender and educational level were confounding factors for most sociodemographic variables. Age, energy intake, and expenditure were not related to the economic cost of the diet after adjusting for one or both variables. On the other hand, it was determined that living alone was relevant only for women and those with an intermediate educational level, while smoking was relevant in the economic cost of the diet for men, and for those with a low educational level. -intermediate.
Among the parameters of the Metabolic Syndrome (interrelated medical conditions that significantly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases), hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia and the prevalence of abdominal obesity were more related to the economic cost of the diet only for men, while cholesterol HDL was related to both genders.
For their part, hypertriglyceridemia, HDL cholesterol, and abdominal obesity were related to the economic cost of the diet only at the lowest levels of education.
What does the PREDIMED-Plus project consist of?
The multicenter PREDIMED-Plus trial, coordinated by the Red Biomedical Research Center, focuses on primary cardiovascular prevention in older adults, aged between 55 and 75 years, who have a body mass index between ≥27 and <40 kg/ m2 and metabolic syndrome.
The participants were randomly divided into two groups: the control group followed a Mediterranean diet with extra virgin olive oil and nuts, without calorie restrictions or focus on physical activity or weight loss. The intervention group adopted a low-calorie Mediterranean diet (with 30% calorie restriction), complemented with extra virgin olive oil and nuts, along with an intensive lifestyle program that includes promoted physical activity (45 minutes of daily walking or equivalent) and weight loss goals with behavioral therapy.
The project has had the participation of 6,874 individuals recruited in 23 centers and hospitals, supported by 7 support groups throughout Spain.
The study is titled “Association of monetary diet cost of foods and diet quality in Spanish older adults.” And it has been published in the academic journal Frontiers in Public Health. (Source: CIBER)
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