Estimating the cost and affordability of healthy diets: How much do methods matter?

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.donorBill & Melinda Gates Foundationen
cg.creator.identifierDEREK HEADEY: 0000-0003-2476-5131
cg.creator.identifierKalle Hirvonen: 0000-0003-2057-1612
cg.creator.identifierHarold Alderman: 0000-0001-8019-6397
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102654en
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Development Strategies and Governance Unit
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Director General's Office
cg.identifier.publicationRankA
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn0306-9192en
cg.issueJuly 2024en
cg.journalFood Policyen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food security
cg.volume126en
dc.contributor.authorHeadey, Derek D.en
dc.contributor.authorHirvonen, Kalleen
dc.contributor.authorAlderman, Harolden
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-14T17:17:48Zen
dc.date.available2024-06-14T17:17:48Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/145261
dc.titleEstimating the cost and affordability of healthy diets: How much do methods matter?en
dcterms.abstractRecently developed cost and affordability of healthy diet (CoAHD) metrics have quickly become mainstream food security indicators. However, published research on the sensitivity of estimation methods is limited. This paper focuses on two important innovations in CoAHD measurement at the global level. First, we develop a demographic scaling factor to adjust healthy diet costs for cross-country differences in age structures, since younger populations generally require fewer calories than older populations. Second, we improve the way in which household expenditure available for purchasing food (“food budgets”) are derived. In addition, we explore sensitivity of global CoAHD estimates to potential problems with the representativeness and food product coverage of global food price data and vary assumptions for activity levels that shape energy expenditure requirements. We apply these explorations to the EAT-Lancet reference diet in 137 countries using price data from 2017. Relative to the conventional methods, we find that demographic scaling and improved food budget derivation substantially reduces the estimated population who cannot afford a healthy diet, from 3.02 to 2.13 billion. Adjustments for low product coverage can lead to modest reductions for specific regions and food groups, while higher physical activity assumptions increase the share of people who cannot afford a healthy diet, though perhaps implausibly so. Methods clearly matter in CoAHD estimation, and more accurate and timelier CoAHD estimates have substantial scope to improve policy analysis, design and targeting.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.available2024-06-11
dcterms.bibliographicCitationHeadey, Derek D.; Hirvonen, Kalle; and Alderman, Harold. 2024. Estimating the cost and affordability of healthy diets: How much do methods matter? Food Policy 126(July 2024): 102654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102654en
dcterms.extent102654en
dcterms.issued2024-07
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherElsevieren
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/140327en
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/142772en
dcterms.subjectaffordabilityen
dcterms.subjectfood securityen
dcterms.subjecthealthy dietsen
dcterms.subjectpricesen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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