Assessing the cost of healthy diets in low socioeconomic groups in Australia
Recommended diets have become increasingly unaffordable for Australian families on low incomes and in the current cost-of-living crisis, there is an urgent need for more welfare support to help households purchase healthy diets.
If recommended diets were affordable for all, this would lead to improved workforce and social participation, improved education outcomes for children, reduced future health costs and reduced social inequality.
This project assessed the cost of healthy (recommended) and habitual (unhealthy) diets in welfare-dependent and comparable Australian households, using either popular branded products or the cheapest available alternatives.
Key messages
- Poor diet is a leading cause of preventable disease in Australia and around the world, however, less than 4% of Australians consume a diet in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
- Rates of diet-related disease in low socioeconomic groups (SEGs) are higher than in the broader Australian population.
- Price is a commonly cited determinant of food choice, and the affordability of healthy food is a key factor in people’s food choices.
- For the first time, we measured and compared the cost and affordability of a healthy diet to that currently consumed across low SEGs in Australia using the Healthy Diets ASAP protocol.
- We found most low SEG households were at risk of food stress and healthy diets remained unaffordable for some. Low SEGs reported significantly lower intakes of healthy food and drinks yet similarly high overall intakes of discretionary choices to high SEGs.
- Eating fewer healthy foods may explain higher rates of diet-related disease in low SEGs. Permanently increasing welfare support and providing an adequate minimum wage would enable these households to afford healthy food, protect food security and ensure better diet-related health.