The cost of current versus healthy sustainable diets in Belgium [1]
In short
When people purchase foods, a large set of determinants may affect their food choices: advertising, packaging and labelling, physical accessibility in stores and other settings, perception of health, individual taste, convenience, or cultural norms. Among them, the cost of food is an important determinant, especially for those on the lowest incomes. The aim of this project is to assess the relative monetary cost of meeting nutritional guidelines for healthy sustainable diets for different sociodemographic population groups in Belgium, using dietary data from the most recent Belgian food consumption survey.
Project description
This project assesses the relative monetary cost of meeting nutritional guidelines for healthy sustainable diets for different sociodemographic population groups in Belgium, using dietary data from the most recent Belgian food consumption survey.
We use data from the nationally-representative Food Consumption Survey [2] (FCS) 2014–2015 (N=3146; 3–64 years), which collected dietary data through two non-consecutive 24-hour recalls (records for children). Average prices for >2000 foods are extracted from the 2014 GfK ConsumerScan panel and linked with foods consumed in the FCS. Daily costs of meeting guidelines for healthy sustainable diets or according to the share of ultra-processed food products are estimated across age and household education level groups. The results of this project may contribute to recommendations for fiscal policies to stimulate sustainable healthy diets.
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