Following Federal Guidelines to Increase Nutrient Consumption May Lead to Higher Food Costs for Consumers

Overview

Journal Health Aff (Millwood)

Specialty Health Services

Date 2011 Aug 5

PMID 21813865

Citations 28

Authors

Pablo Monsivais

Anju Aggarwal

Adam Drewnowski

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, emphasized the need for Americans to consume more potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D, and calcium, and to get fewer calories from saturated fat and added sugar. We examined the economic impact of meeting these guidelines for adults in King County, Washington. We found that increasing consumption of potassium--the most expensive of the four recommended nutrients--would add $380 per year to the average consumer's food costs. Meanwhile, each time consumers obtained 1 percent more of their daily calories from saturated fat and added sugar, their food costs significantly declined. These findings suggest that improving the American diet will require additional guidance for consumers, especially those with little budget flexibility, and new policies to increase the availability and reduce the cost of healthful foods.

Citing Articles

Dietary Supplement Use among Iranian Households during COVID-19 Epidemic Lockdown: Less Access in Those Who May Need More National Food and Nutrition Surveillance.

Ghodsi D, Nikooyeh B, Amini M, Rabiei S, Doustmohammadian A, Abdollahi Z Int J Prev Med. 2023; 14:99.

PMID: 37854989 PMC: 10580211. DOI: 10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_207_22.

Dietary Sodium Reduction Is Best for Reducing Blood Pressure: Controversies in Hypertension.

Earle W, Ormseth G, Morales-Alvarez M, Kaushik M, Juraschek S Hypertension. 2023; 81(3):510-515.

PMID: 37641925 PMC: 11067439. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.123.20544.

Affordability influences nutritional quality of seafood consumption among income and race/ethnicity groups in the United States.

Love D, Thorne-Lyman A, Conrad Z, Gephart J, Asche F, Godo-Solo D Am J Clin Nutr. 2022; 116(2):415-425.

PMID: 35691612 PMC: 9348982. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac099.

Residents' Insights on Their Local Food Environment and Dietary Behaviors: A Cross-City Comparison Using Photovoice in Spain.

Gravina L, Jauregi A, Fernandez-Aedo I, Diez J, Gittelsohn J, Colon-Ramos U Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(19).

PMID: 34639435 PMC: 8507815. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph181910134.

Household Food Security and Infant Adiposity.

Benjamin-Neelon S, Allen C, Neelon B Pediatrics. 2020; 146(3).

PMID: 32859735 PMC: 7461216. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2019-3725.

References

Patterson R, Kristal A, Tinker L, Carter R, Bolton M, Agurs-Collins T . Measurement characteristics of the Women's Health Initiative food frequency questionnaire. Ann Epidemiol. 1999; 9(3):178-87. DOI: 10.1016/s1047-2797(98)00055-6. View

Drewnowski A . Diet image: a new perspective on the food-frequency questionnaire. Nutr Rev. 2001; 59(11):370-2. DOI: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2001.tb06964.x. View

Townsend M, Aaron G, Monsivais P, Keim N, Drewnowski A . Less-energy-dense diets of low-income women in California are associated with higher energy-adjusted diet costs. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009; 89(4):1220-6. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.26916. View

Racine E, Smith Vaughn A, Laditka S . Farmers' market use among African-American women participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010; 110(3):441-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2009.11.019. View

Lichtenstein A, Russell R . Essential nutrients: food or supplements? Where should the emphasis be?. JAMA. 2005; 294(3):351-8. DOI: 10.1001/jama.294.3.351. View

Drewnowski A . The cost of US foods as related to their nutritive value. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010; 92(5):1181-8. PMC: 2954450. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29300. View

Prentice R, Caan B, Chlebowski R, Patterson R, Kuller L, Ockene J . Low-fat dietary pattern and risk of invasive breast cancer: the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial. JAMA. 2006; 295(6):629-42. DOI: 10.1001/jama.295.6.629. View

Krebs-Smith S, Guenther P, Subar A, Kirkpatrick S, Dodd K . Americans do not meet federal dietary recommendations. J Nutr. 2010; 140(10):1832-8. PMC: 2937576. DOI: 10.3945/jn.110.124826. View

Monsivais P, Drewnowski A . Lower-energy-density diets are associated with higher monetary costs per kilocalorie and are consumed by women of higher socioeconomic status. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009; 109(5):814-22. PMC: 2907149. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2009.02.002. View

10.

Kristal A, Potter J . Not the time to abandon the food frequency questionnaire: counterpoint. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006; 15(10):1759-60. DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-06-0727. View

11.

Monsivais P, Drewnowski A . The rising cost of low-energy-density foods. J Am Diet Assoc. 2007; 107(12):2071-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2007.09.009. View

12.

Muller M, Tagtow A, Roberts S, MacDougall E . Aligning Food Systems Policies to Advance Public Health. J Hunger Environ Nutr. 2012; 4(3-4):225-240. PMC: 3489117. DOI: 10.1080/19320240903321193. View

13.

White E, Patterson R, Kristal A, Thornquist M, King I, Shattuck A . VITamins And Lifestyle cohort study: study design and characteristics of supplement users. Am J Epidemiol. 2003; 159(1):83-93. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwh010. View

14.

Maillot M, Vieux F, Ferguson E, Volatier J, Amiot M, Darmon N . To meet nutrient recommendations, most French adults need to expand their habitual food repertoire. J Nutr. 2009; 139(9):1721-7. DOI: 10.3945/jn.109.107318. View

15.

Neuhouser M, Kristal A, McLerran D, Patterson R, Atkinson J . Validity of short food frequency questionnaires used in cancer chemoprevention trials: results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2000; 8(8):721-5. View

16.

Bernstein A, Bloom D, Rosner B, Franz M, Willett W . Relation of food cost to healthfulness of diet among US women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010; 92(5):1197-203. PMC: 2954451. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29854. View

17.

Glanz K, Basil M, MAIBACH E, Goldberg J, Snyder D . Why Americans eat what they do: taste, nutrition, cost, convenience, and weight control concerns as influences on food consumption. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998; 98(10):1118-26. DOI: 10.1016/S0002-8223(98)00260-0. View

18.

Wallinga D . Agricultural policy and childhood obesity: a food systems and public health commentary. Health Aff (Millwood). 2010; 29(3):405-10. DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0102. View

19.

Monsivais P, Aggarwal A, Drewnowski A . Are socio-economic disparities in diet quality explained by diet cost?. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010; 66(6):530-5. PMC: 3951975. DOI: 10.1136/jech.2010.122333. View

20.

Aggarwal A, Monsivais P, Cook A, Drewnowski A . Does diet cost mediate the relation between socioeconomic position and diet quality?. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2011; 65(9):1059-66. PMC: 3157585. DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.72. View