Healthcare Cost Savings Associated with Increased Whole Grain Consumption among Australian Adults

Abstract

Many dietary guidelines emphasise “mostly” whole grain food choices as part of an overall healthy eating pattern based on evidence for enhancing nutritional status and reducing chronic disease. Still, countries including Australia fall short of their consumption targets. Furthermore, healthcare cost savings associated with increasing the consumption of whole grains in alignment with the Daily Target Intake (DTI) recommendation of 48 g are unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the potential savings in costs of healthcare and lost productivity associated with a reduction in the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) through meeting the 48 g DTI recommendation for whole grains among the Australian adult population (>20 years). A three-step cost-of-illness analysis was conducted using input parameters from: 1) estimates of proportions of consumers (5%, 15%, 50%, and 100%) who would increase their current intake of whole grains to meet the recommended DTI in Australia; 2) relative reductions in risk of T2DM and CVD associated with specific whole grain consumption, as reported in meta-analysis studies; and 3) data on costs of healthcare and productivity loss based on monetary figures by national healthcare authorities. A very pessimistic (5% of the population) through to universal (100% of the population) adoption of the recommended DTI was shown to potentially yield AUD 37.5 (95% CI 22.3–49.3) to AUD 750.7 (95% CI 445.7–985.2) million, and AUD 35.9 (95% CI 8.3–60.7) to AUD 717.4 (95% CI 165.5–1214.1) million in savings on annual healthcare and lost productivity costs for T2DM and CVD, respectively. Given such economic benefits of the recommended consumption of whole grains, in exchange for refined grains, there is a real opportunity to facilitate relevant socioeconomic cost-savings for Australia and reductions in disease. These results are suggestive of a much greater opportunity to communicate the need for dietary change at all levels, but particularly through food-based dietary guidelines and front-of-pack labelling initiatives.

Whole Grain Intakes Are Associated with Healthcare Cost Savings Following Reductions in Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Total Cancer Mortality in Australia: A Cost-of-Illness Model

“…The third and final step of the present analysis imputed the annual savings in costs of healthcare-related services that could follow the estimated percent reductions in risk of CRC and total cancer mortality, separately, with the recommended increase in whole grain intake. Similar to our recent analysis [15], the 2015-2016 estimates of cancer-related direct health expenditure by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) [23] were first inflated to their 2020 monetary equivalents based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Consumer Price Index (Health group) [24] (Table 2) and then employed within a set of arithmetic calculations involving the different proportions of the uptake rate and a 1% reduction in cost categories, individually, corresponding to each 1% decline in risk of disease.…”

“…(2) estimates of percent reductions in relative risk (with 95% confidence intervals) of CRC and total cancers mortality associated with whole grain intake; and (3) annual healthcare costs of CRC and all cancers in Australia. As previously modeled [15], a sensitivity analysis of four scenarios (very pessimistic, pessimistic, optimistic, and universal) was created to explore the impact of uncertainty, resulting in a range of assumptions withing each step.…”

“…The discount rate refers to the interest rate used to determine the present value of future monetary figures [25]. Following the methodology that we have outlined recently [15], a real discount rate of 7% was applied to the sum of savings in CRC and total cancer costs, separately, to assess the discounted value of whole grain intake over the longer term, using the net present value equation:…”

Oat and Barley in the Food Supply and Use of Beta Glucan Health Claims

“…Furthermore, a recent cost of illness analysis based on the Australian healthcare system reported the government could save AUD 717.4 million annually in direct and indirect cost for prevention of CVD if all Australian adults (>20 years) consumed the recommended 48 g whole grain daily target intake (DTI) [ 42 ]. Despite the profound benefits for individual health and the Australian healthcare system, current consumption of whole grains is poor, at 21 g/day for adults (19–85 years), less than half of the 48 g DTI [ 43 ].…”

Spatial-Temporal Footprints Assessment and Driving Mechanism of China Household Diet Based on CHNS

“…We also suggest that households should consider conforming to a balanced diet, reducing the excessive intake of food and keeping food waste to a minimum. Based on the increasing demand for animal food, we suggest using plant-based foods rich in protein as a substitute for some animal-derived foods, and swap refined grain choices for whole grains, which not only meet household requirements for nutrient intake and health keeping, but also achieve the purpose of reducing the consumption of dietary resources [49,50,63]. Residents should be encouraged to get protein through beans, using plant-based beverages instead of milk and other animal dairy products [51].…”