Replacing Fats and Sweets With Vegetables and FruitsA Question of Cost
Adam Drewnowski, PhD,
Nicole Darmon, PhD and
André Briend, PhD
Adam Drewnowski is with the Center for Public Health Nutrition and the Nutritional Sciences Program, University of Washington in Seattle. Nicole Darmon is with the Institut National pour la Science et la Recherche Medicale Unit 557 and the Institut Scientifique et Technique de la Nutrition et de lAlimentation at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris, France. André Briend is with the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement in Paris, France.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Adam Drewnowski, PhD, Nutritional Sciences Program, 305 Raitt Hall 353410, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3410 (e-mail: adamdrew{at}u.washington.edu).
Objectives. We examined the association between diet qualityand estimated diet costs.
Methods. Freely chosen diets of 837 French adults were assessedby a dietary history method. Mean national food prices for 57foods were used to estimate diet costs.
Results. Diets high in fat, sugar, and grains were associatedwith lower diet costs after adjustment for energy intakes, gender,and age. For most levels of energy intake, each additional 100g of fats and sweets was associated with a 0.050.40 perday reduction in diet costs. In contrast, each additional 100g of fruit and vegetables was associated with a 0.180.29per day increase in diet costs.
Conclusions. Diets high in fats and sweets represent a low-costoption to the consumer, whereas the recommended "prudent" dietscost more.
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