Healthy Diets in Rural Victoria—Cheaper than Unhealthy Alternatives, Yet Unaffordable

Penelope Love, Jillian Whelan, Colin Bell, Felicity Grainger, Cherie Russell, Meron Lewis and Amanda Lee
Additional contact information
Penelope Love: Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia
Jillian Whelan: School of Medicine, Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia
Colin Bell: School of Medicine, Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia
Felicity Grainger: School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia
Cherie Russell: Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia
Meron Lewis: The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre (TAPPC), Sax Institute, Sydney 2007, Australia
Amanda Lee: The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre (TAPPC), Sax Institute, Sydney 2007, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Rural communities experience higher rates of obesity and reduced food security compared with urban communities. The perception that healthy foods are expensive contributes to poor dietary choices. Providing an accessible, available, affordable healthy food supply is an equitable way to improve the nutritional quality of the diet for a community, however, local food supply data are rarely available for small rural towns. This study used the Healthy Diets ASAP tool to assess price, price differential and affordability of recommended (healthy) and current diets in a rural Local Government Area (LGA) (pop ≈ 7000; 10 towns) in Victoria, Australia. All retail food outlets were surveyed ( n = 40). The four most populous towns had supermarkets; remaining towns had one general store each. Seven towns had café/take-away outlets, and all towns had at least one hotel/pub. For all towns the current unhealthy diet was more expensive than the recommended healthy diet, with 59.5% of the current food budget spent on discretionary items. Affordability of the healthy diet accounted for 30–32% of disposable income. This study confirms that while a healthy diet is less expensive than the current unhealthier diet, affordability is a challenge for rural communities. Food security is reduced further with restricted geographical access, a limited healthy food supply, and higher food prices.

Keywords: Healthy Diets ASAP tool; food security; food prices; diet affordability; rural communities; INFORMAS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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