New study finds cost of healthy food is related to stunting

WASHINGTON – High prices for nutritious food in low- and middle-income countries partly account for high rates of undernutrition, according to a new study by the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Although research has already been conducted on the link between nutritious food prices and obesity, a study conducted by IFPRI and published Tuesday in the Journal of Nutrition is the first to examine the link between food prices and undernutrition.

Researchers disaggregated calorie prices using World Bank income levels to examine badociations with dietary indicators for women and children, including stunting among under-fives and overweight among adults .

The wealthier a country is, the healthier, nutrient-rich foods are cheaper, said Derek Headley, senior fellow at IFPRI. But unhealthy foods are also cheaper.

"This discovery is important because it has implications for what we should do in developing countries in terms of undernutrition and to try to improve the food system so that it provides healthy food at a lower cost." said Headley.

Researchers used food prices from the World Bank's International Comparison Program, a statistical database used to measure the cost of living around the world. The standardization of this system allowed them to compare different varieties of the same food, such as basmati rice and jasmine rice. Each of these could be considered a separate food product among the 657 food items examined in the study. These foods were then divided into 21 specific food groups that could be compared to each other.

The study found that most non-cereal foods were relatively cheap in high-income countries, but that in lower-income countries, healthy foods were generally expensive, especially and fortified cereals for infants. In seven of the nine food groups, children were less likely to eat foods with higher relative caloric costs. Rising milk prices were badociated with a 2.8 percentage point increase in stunting, while higher prices for soft drinks resulted in a 3.6 percentage point decrease in obesity rates percentage.

According to Headey, as countries grow, processed foods become cheaper, which plays a role in the choices people make to choose what to eat. The price of sugary foods is declining as major international food companies expand their distribution to low- and middle-income countries. Access to nutritious foods is not just a question of income, but the availability of such products on the local market, while the healthiest foods are often the most perishable.

"People in developing countries do not only have modest incomes, they also live in poor food systems," Headley said. "Their dollar, their rupee or something else does not go that far because the foods we really want them to eat, especially young kids, are really expensive."

While it is not surprising that different foods cost different amounts in different parts of the world, Headey explained that it is the depth of disparities that is particularly striking, as in Africa, where milk and eggs are relatively expensive.

That's one of the reasons why nutrition-sensitive agriculture is so important, explained Headey. Cost management across the entire food system enables people to access nutritious food at more affordable prices, and more emphasis needs to be put on agricultural investment in nutrient-rich foods rather than in food. as well as to reduce the cost of fortified foods.

"We have a significant problem in that most of the investment in agricultural research and development in poor countries has been spent on staple foods. And the reasons are good: the poor grow a lot of staple foods and spend a large part of their household budget on staple foods, "said Headley, noting that many approaches focused on food security and reducing food security. poverty.

"But the problem is that these staple foods are really not what young children need to be fed. They must be fed nutrient-rich foods. Their mothers must eat these nutrient-rich foods. "

High-income countries are debating the benefits and the future of animal-based diets, but animal protein is often the best way for children to consume the diversity of nutrients they need, said Headley. He would like his research to inform wise nutrition interventions by incorporating price considerations into program design so that practitioners consider relative caloric prices.

"It will not be possible for a woman to feed her child with eggs if they cost 10 times more than rice. It's really important, to change the mindset of the role of prices, or even the food system, in limiting nutritional behaviors, "Headley said. "When we do interventions [we need] think about the consequences: are we doing things that will actually make healthy foods more affordable?

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