Healthy Diets ASAP: A robust method for monitoring the affordability of a healthy diet

The Prevention Centre has spent more than a decade driving the development and testing of policy-relevant methods and tools to provide better data to help tackle complex public health issues. Several of these have been used widely around Australia and internationally.

This includes pioneering the first and only standardised way of benchmarking, monitoring and comparing the price and affordability of different diets in Australia, referred to as the Healthy Diets Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing (ASAP) methods protocol.

Healthy Diets ASAP offers policy decision-makers, practitioners and researchers a standardised approach to benchmark, monitor, and survey the cost and affordability of habitual and recommended (healthy, more equitable and sustainable) diets. This provides critical data to understand the implications of these trends on household budgets and health, nationally and also in different regions and population groups throughout Australia.

Poor diet, as a whole, is the leading single preventable risk factor contributing to the burden of disease in Australia and globally. Improving food security, including economic access to healthy food, is key to reducing the prevalence of obesity and chronic disease, particularly in low socioeconomic groups, said Professor Lee.

 Without regularly monitoring of the affordability of healthy diets, it’s challenging to develop effective economic and welfare policies and support systems for more vulnerable communities.

Emeritus Professor Amanda Lee

Currently, Australia lacks a comprehensive system to regularly track rising food prices through a health lens. As the Consumer Price Index reports change in selected food prices without differentiation between healthy and unhealthy options, the real impact of increasing food prices on health is currently masked.

With the utility of an online portal, Healthy Diets ASAP has now been applied in all states and territories of Australia by more than 15 organisations in over 35 surveys. The methods protocol has also been modified for use by remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and among low socioeconomic groups.

So far results have shown that:

• Prices of healthy foods have increased at twice the rate of unhealthy options since 2020
• Our current food system drives Australian families to spend around 58% of their food budget on unhealthy foods and drinks
• In remote communities, healthy diets cost over 30% more than in capital cities or regional centres
• Healthy diets are unaffordable for most First Nations households in remote communities, due to low incomes as well as high food prices
• Healthy diets are also unaffordable for many welfare-dependant families with children, even if the cheapest generic or home-brand foods are purchased
• With supportive policies and careful planning, healthy diets can be less expensive than unhealthy diets.

However, ongoing monitoring with Healthy Diets ASAP is essential to capture food prices and affordability in real time, said Dr Lewis.

As food prices continue to climb, we need to properly resource monitoring and surveillance and embed proactive solutions as part of the chronic disease prevention system to ensure  better nutrition.

Dr Meron Lewis

Recent surveys indicate that lower-income families are particularly hard-hit, with many resorting to cheaper, less nutritious options to stretch their grocery dollars. The impact is evident in rising levels of hunger and diet-related health issues, including obesity and malnutrition, especially among vulnerable populations.

There are currently opportunities to:

• Access the Healthy Diets ASAP program and resources with the provision of training and support on a cost-recovery basis.
• Partner to develop commercially sustainable digital access to the Healthy Diets ASAP program and resources.

Interested partners should contact Professor Amanda Lee or Dr Meron Lewis for more information at:

• Emeritus Professor Amanda Lee, University of Queensland, [email protected]

• Dr Meron Lewis, University of Queensland, [email protected]