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A healthy diet consistent with Australian health recommendations is too expensive for welfare-dependant families

Kettings, Christine, Sinclair, Andrew J. and Voevodin, Melanie 2009, A healthy diet consistent with Australian health recommendations is too expensive for welfare-dependant families, Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, vol. 33, no. 6, pp. 566-572.


Title A healthy diet consistent with Australian health recommendations is too expensive for welfare-dependant families
Author(s) Kettings, Christine
Sinclair, Andrew J.
Voevodin, Melanie
Journal name Australian and New Zealand journal of public health
Volume number 33
Issue number 6
Start page 566
End page 572
Publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia
Place of publication Richmond, Vic.
Publication date 2009-12
ISSN 1326-0200
1753-6405
Summary Objective: Examine the cost of healthy food habits for welfare-dependent families in Australia.

Method:  A seven-day meal plan was developed, based on Australian public health recommendations, for two typical welfare-dependent families: a couple-family (two adults, two children) and a one-parent family (one adult, two children). The cost of the meal plan was calculated using market brand and generic brand grocery items, and total cost compared to income.

Results: In Australia, the cost of healthy food habits uses about 40% of the disposable income of welfare-dependent families. Families earning an average income would spend only 20% of their disposable income to buy the same healthy food. Substituting generic brands for market brands reduced the weekly food cost by about 13%. This is one of few economic models to include generic brands.

Conclusion: Compared with average-income Australian families, healthy food habits are a fiscal challenge to welfare-dependent families.

Implications: These results provide a benchmark for economic and social policy analysis, and the influence disposable income has on prioritising healthy food habits.
Language eng
Field of Research 111104 Public Nutrition Intervention
Socio Economic Objective 970111 Expanding Knowledge in the Medical and Health Sciences
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Copyright notice ©2009, The Authors
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30024899

Document type: Journal Article
Collection: School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences
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Created: Fri, 05 Mar 2010, 10:06:17 EST by Sally Morrigan