Anyone who has weighed up the cost of a Maccas and compared it to the cost of buying healthy foods at the supermarket will usually conclude that Maccas is cheaper. Not only does McDonald’s prepare the meal, but it costs less too. No brainer, right?
New research from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that eating unhealthy foods is indeed cheaper than eating a healthy diet. By how much? $1.60 per day – or $570 a year.
The researchers involved in the study decided to put a daily dollar amount on unhealthy diets and healthy diets to find out just how much more eating healthily would cost. They did this by reviewing 27 studies from ten countries on the cost of healthy vs. unhealthy foods.
“Conventional wisdom has been that healthier foods cost more, but it’s never been clear if that’s actually true or exactly how much more healthier foods might cost,” said lead study author Mayuree Rao.
“We found that the healthiest diets cost about $1.50 (USD) more per day, and that’s less than we might have expected.”
How did they do it?
Rao’s study assessed the results of 27 studies completed after 2000, which showed the various costs associated with eating healthily – eating a diet rich in fruit, veggies and fish – and eating unhealthily – eating a diet of processed foods and snacks.
The studies were taken from ten high-income countries in North America and Europe, and the food prices were converted into international dollars and adjusted for inflation.
In order to work out the cost of eating both types of diets, the researchers looked at the cost of each specific food per serving, and the cost of 200 calories of that item of food. Then they worked out how much it would cost per day – three meal’s worth – and the cost per 2000 calories.
What did they find?
The study revealed that some food groups worked out to cost more per serving, such as meat, which cost 29 US cents more per serving to choose the healthier, leaner version.
Other food groups, such as snacks, grains and dairy turned out to have minimal price differences between the healthy and unhealthy versions.
Overall, the research showed that healthy diets cost about $1.60 more per day than unhealthy diets.
It is worth bearing in mind however, that there were some variances throughout the test, as the concept of “healthy” and “unhealthy” diets varied throughout the 27 studies evaluated.
What does it mean for consumers?
While for some consumers, $1.60 a day isn’t much, for those on low incomes, that extra cost can add up throughout the year, especially for those with larger families.
“Our aim… was not to evaluate whether one specific product costs more than another, but whether healthier foods in a broad class of foods cost more, on average, than less healthy foods in the same broad class,” the study said.
“For many low-income families, that means quite a lot,” Rao said. “It translates to about $550 (USD) more per year for one person, and that could be a real barrier to healthy eating.”
But for those who can afford it, the study suggests they weigh up the cost of their food choices with the value of their health.
It’s “just a drop in the bucket when you consider the billions of dollars spent every year on diet-related chronic disease like obesity, diabetes and heart disease,” Rao said. “When you look at the long-term health impact, the extra $1.50 is a good investment.”
Robert Grenfell, the Heart Foundation’s national cardiovascular health director agrees.
“Energy-dense, least-healthy foods appear to be cheaper in Australia, which means that when income is a reason for what foods you buy, you’ll be buying the cheaper foods. Unfortunately [they] will be the ones which are least healthy for you,” he said.
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