What is it about?
In a central London setting we developed a healthy seven day diet for a range of households based on what residents told us they eat. We then visited local shops and checked how much it would cost. This was repeated for a British diet, a Caribbean diet and a Moroccan diet - reflective of the population. We found that while a older person on a low income such as the state pension typically has about £20 per week for food it would cost about £30-35 to eat a healthy diet. While a family of two adults and two children would need to spend around £120 per week to purchase a healthy diet.
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Why is it important?
This was an significant piece of work for the health service. It resulted in work with social services to increase resident access to a healthy diet. We also changed our messages about food affordability highlighting where the cheapest fruit and vegetables could be purchased and encouraging neighborhood programs where communities could share purchasing costs. The results were also shared with council, the health service and food provision services to increase the reach.
Perspectives
In order to address the rising rates of overweight and obesity in the population, nutrition teams will need to work with policy makers, industry and local services to improve the affordability of healthy foods and reduce the availability of cheap but energy dense discretionary foods and drinks.
Ms Alison Ginn
Cancer Council Victoria
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Mapping access to community-developed healthy food baskets including cost and availability, Health Education Journal, July 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0017896916632789.
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