Relation between diet cost and Healthy Eating Index 2010 scores among adults in the United States 2007-2010.
Preventive medicine 2014 ; 73: 70-5.
Rehm CD, Monsivais P, Drewnowski A
DOI : 10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.01.019
PubMed ID : 25625693
PMCID :
URL : https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0091743515000213
Abstract
Food prices may be one reason for the growing socioeconomic disparities in diet quality.
To evaluate the association between diet costs and the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010).
Cross-sectional study based on 11,181 adults from the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, analyzed in spring 2014. Diet cost was estimated by linking dietary data with a national food price database. The HEI-2010, a measure of adherence to the dietary guidelines, was the outcome. The population ratio method was used to estimate the average HEI-2010 scores by quintile of energy-adjusted diet cost. Additional analyses evaluated the association between cost and HEI-2010 components.
There was a strong positive association between lower energy-adjusted diet costs and lower HEI-2010 scores. The association was stronger among women (p-interaction=0.003). Lower diet costs were associated with lower consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and seafood, and higher consumption of refined grains and solid fat, alcohol and added sugars.
Lower energy-adjusted diet costs were associated with lower-quality diets. Future efforts to improve the nutritional status of the US public should take food prices and diet costs into account.
