Having a healthy diet may be more complicated than one thinks.
According to FOX News, a new study, which analyzes information on diet and price from 10 countries, concluded that eating healthy does cost an individual more money.
"People often say that healthier foods are more expensive, and that such costs strongly limit better diet habits," said lead author Mayuree Rao, in a statement. "But, until now, the scientific evidence for this idea has not been systematically evaluated, nor have the actual differences in cost been characterized."
A healthy diet, consisting of fruits, vegetables, nuts and fish, will cost a person $1.50 more per day, or $550 per year, compared to a least healthy diet, consisting of processed foods, meats and refined grains, according to research published Thursday, from the Harvard School of Public Health.
"The team analyzed the difference in prices per serving and per 200 calories for certain food types, as well as prices per day and per 2,000 calories," USA News reported.
The greatest price difference is in meats and proteins, which in the healthy version cost about 30 cents more per serving, and 47 cents more per 200 calories, than less healthy versions. Grains, dairy, snacks and sweets, and fats and oils, range from $0.02 to $0.12 more.
"This would represent a real burden for some families, and we need policies to help offset these costs," senior author Dariush Mozaffarian said in a statement. "On the other hand, this price difference is very small in comparison to the economic costs of diet-related chronic diseases, which would be dramatically reduced by healthy diets."
Mozaffarian, an associate professor at Harvard School of Public Health, said the price of healthy eating is fairly small compared to a "lifetime cost of diet-related chronic diseases," such as diabetes and heart disease. Both diseases have an estimated cost of $393 billion per year, $1,200 for each person, in the United States.
A healthy diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts, helps fight chronic diseases, obesity and different types of cancers, according to previous studies.
"This is especially crucial for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, who have less healthy diets and higher disease risk than higher socioeconomic groups," the study said.
The study is published Dec. 5 in the British Medical Journal Open.
