The Cost of Diets According to Their Caloric Share of Ultraprocessed and Minimally Processed Foods in Belgium

Vandevijvere, Stefanie; Pedroni, Camille; Ridder, Karin De; Castetbon, Katia

doi:10.3390/nu12092787

Cited by 32 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Our results that the recommended diet can be less expensive than the current diet also correspond to the findings of studies using methods other than Healthy Diets ASAP in the Northern Territory of Australia [26], throughout Australia [27], in New Zealand [28] and in Mexico [29]. While a systematic review [30] and two relevant studies [31,32] reported contradicting results, methodological differences in the contents of the items priced (for example, variation in inclusion/exclusion of alcoholic beverages and 'take-away' foods) and units of cost results (for example, by energy, weight, serve or nutrient density) render a comparison problematic [17]. This highlights the importance of 'anchoring' foods and drinks to be priced in total diets and using standardised methods to support cost comparison [16][17][18].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Affordability of Heathy, Equitable and More Sustainable Diets in Low-Income Households in Brisbane before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic has increased food insecurity worldwide, yet there has been limited assessment of shifts in the cost and affordability of healthy, equitable and sustainable diets. This study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and income supplements provided by the Australian government on diet cost and affordability for low-income households in an Australian urban area. The Healthy Diets ASAP method protocol was applied to assess the cost and cost differential of current and recommended diets before (in 2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (late 2020) for households with a minimum-wage and welfare-only disposable household income, by area of socioeconomic disadvantage, in Greater Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Data were collected between August and October, 2020, from 78 food outlets and compared with data collected in the same locations between May and October, 2019, in an earlier study. The price of most healthy food groups increased significantly during the pandemic—with the exception of vegetables and legumes, which decreased. Conversely, the price of discretionary foods and drinks did not increase during the pandemic. The cost of the current and recommended diets significantly increased throughout this period, but the latter continued to be less expensive than the former. Due to income supplements provided between May and September 2020, the affordability of the recommended diet improved greatly, by 27% and 42%, for households with minimum-wage and welfare-only disposable household income, respectively. This improvement in the affordability of the recommended diet highlights the need to permanently increase welfare support for low-income families to ensure food security.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Affordability of Heathy, Equitable and More Sustainable Diets in Low-Income Households in Brisbane before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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“…Regarding age, studies generally reported large variations amongst the age groups. However, UPF intake generally decreased with increasing age, with the highest levels of UPF intake observed in children and adolescents, and the lowest in older subjects [ 51 , 54 , 87 , 104 , 108 , 110 , 112 , 118 ] ( Table 3 ). Only five studies also stratified results based on body mass index (BMI) of the participants, generally finding a slight, but higher, UPF intake in subjects with the highest BMI (e.g., greater than 30 kg/m 2 ) [ 58 , 87 , 89 , 95 ] ( Table 4 ) [ 58 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Worldwide Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods: Findings and Criticisms

et al. 2021

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A debate is ongoing on the significance and appropriateness of the NOVA classification as a tool for categorizing foods based on their degree of processing. As such, the role of ultra-processed food (UPF) on human health is still not completely understood. With this review, we aimed to investigate the actual level of consumption of UPF across countries and target populations to determine the impact in real contexts. Suitable articles published up to March 2021 were sourced through the PubMed and SCOPUS databases. Overall, 99 studies providing data on the level of UPF consumption expressed as the percentage of total energy intake were identified, for a total of 1,378,454 participants. Most of them were published in Brazil (n = 38) and the United States (n = 15), and the 24 h recall was the most-used tool (n = 63). Analysis of the results revealed that the United States and the United Kingdom were the countries with the highest percent energy intake from UPF (generally >50%), whereas Italy had the lowest levels (about 10%); the latter was inversely associated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet. High variability was also observed based on sex, age, and body mass index, with men, young people, and overweight/obese subjects generally having higher levels of consumption compared to older subjects. Overall, our findings underline the large differences in UPF intake. Since most of the observations derived from studies conducted with food questionnaires are not specifically validated for UPF, further efforts are essential to confirm the results previously obtained and to investigate further the association between UPF consumption and health status, also considering the actual contribution within different dietary patterns, which has been less investigated to date.

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“…Food policy initiatives to minimise consumption of UPF in the diet primarily include fiscal measures, which, however, should be accompanied by subsidies or incentives (such as VAT reduction for healthful foods) aimed at promoting purchase of healthier foods; indeed, diets rich in UPF are estimated to be cheaper than diets with a low inclusion of these products; thus, the economical affordability of minimally processed foods might be favourably improved (54) .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-processed food consumption and its correlates among Italian children, adolescents and adults from the Italian Nutrition & Health Survey (INHES) cohort study

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Esposito

Costanzo

et al. 2021

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To assess ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and its sociodemographic, psychosocial and behavioural correlates in a general population of Italian children, adolescents and adults. Design: Cross-sectional telephone-based survey Setting: Italy, 2010-2013 Participants: 9,078 participants (5-97 y), from the Italian Nutrition & HEalth Survey (INHES). Dietary intakes were collected by a one-day 24-h dietary recall. UPF was defined by the NOVA classification and expressed as percentage of total calories. Results: Average energy intake from UPF (95% confidence interval) was 17·3% (17·1%, 17·6%) among adults and 25·9% (24·8%, 27·0%) in children/adolescents. Top sources of UPF were processed meats (32·5%) and bread substitutes (16·7%). Among adults, age (β=−3·10; 95%CI: −4·40, −1·80 for >65 y vs 20-40 y; βs are dimensionless) and residing in Southern Italy (β=−0·73; −1·32, −0·14 vs Northern) inversely associated with UPF. Screen view during meals was directly linked to UPF, as well as poor self-rated health (β=5·32; 2·66, 7·99), adverse life events (β=2·33; 1·48, 3·18) and low sleep quality (β=2·34; 1·45, 3·24). Boys consumed 2-point percent more UPF of the total energy than girls (β=2·01; 0·20, 3·82). For all ages, a Mediterranean diet was inversely associated with UPF (β=−4·86; −5·53, −4·20 for good vs poor adherence in adults and β=−5·08; −8·38, −1·77 for kids). Conclusions: UPF contribute a modest proportion of energy to the diets of Italian adults while being one quarter of the total calories in children/adolescents. UPF was associated with several psychosocial factors and eating behaviours. Increased adherence to Mediterranean diet would possibly result in lower UPF consumption.

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The Cost of Diets According to Their Caloric Share of Ultraprocessed and Minimally Processed Foods in Belgium

Cited by 32 publications

References 37 publications

Affordability of Heathy, Equitable and More Sustainable Diets in Low-Income Households in Brisbane before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Affordability of Heathy, Equitable and More Sustainable Diets in Low-Income Households in Brisbane before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

A Systematic Review of Worldwide Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods: Findings and Criticisms

Ultra-processed food consumption and its correlates among Italian children, adolescents and adults from the Italian Nutrition & Health Survey (INHES) cohort study

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