An Umbrella Review and Narrative Synthesis of the Effectiveness of Interventions Aimed at Decreasing Food Prices to Increase Food Quality

Household food spending, parental and childhood's diet quality, in financial crisis: a cross-sectional study in Greece

BACKGROUND

Over the past decade, the financial crisis has affected harshly the household income of Greek people. This study aimed to investigate whether the effect of the financial crisis on food spending has affected the dietary habits in the family environment.

METHODS

Under a cross-sectional study conducted during 2014-2016, 1145 children and their parents completed questionnaires examining socio-economic and dietary characteristics. The MedDietScore and the KIDMED Score were used to assess parental and childhood adherence to the Mediterranean diet, respectively.

RESULTS

The parents who reported that the financial crisis has affected food spending used to consume weekly fewer fruits (3.26 ± 0.94 vs. 3.41 ± 0.90, P = 0.016), carbohydrate foods (3.16 ± 0.57 vs. 2.99 ± 0.55, P < 0.001) and legumes (3.28 ± 0.76 vs. 3.14 ± 0.67, P = 0.001) and more nutrient-poor/energy-dense foods (2.55 ± 0.98 vs. 2.20 ± 0.82, P < 0.001) compared with non-affected parents. Their children showed a decreased weekly consumption of vegetables (2.82 ± 0.90 vs. 2.97 ± 0.98, P = 0.019) and increased weekly consumption of nutrient-poor/energy-dense foods (2.38 ± 0.97 vs. 2.19 ± 0.80, P < 0.001). The affected parents had a lower MedDietScore than non-affected parents (25.76 ± 8.10 vs. 27.03 ± 8.11, P = 0.034). No difference was revealed on the KIDMED Score (P = 0.294).

CONCLUSIONS

The constrained food spending due to financial crisis has an independent and inverse impact on parent's diet quality while keeping unaffected preadolescent's diet quality. This finding highlights the role of parents as a protective 'wall' against the deterioration of their children's diet quality. The modification on the prices of healthy food and the provision of food aid particularly in economically disadvantaged households is underlined.

Getting the Price Right: How Nutrition and Obesity Prevention Strategies Address Food and Beverage Pricing Within High-Income Countries

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Food and beverage prices are major influences on dietary intakes. International health bodies recommend leveraging food prices to create healthier food environments. A policy review was conducted to understand the extent to which national nutrition and obesity prevention policy strategies within high-income countries (i) consider food price as a determinant of health and (ii) propose and implement policies to rebalance food pricing towards healthier options.

RECENT FINDINGS

Policy strategies were inconsistent and fragmented in their inclusion of food prices as determinants of diet-related health. The equity benefits of pricing policies were often indicated. Fiscal measures and food subsidies in schools were the most commonly proposed and implemented pricing policies, predominantly used in Europe. Price is a pertinent but underutilized policy lever in nutrition policy. Comprehensive food and beverage pricing strategies need to be identified, adopted and implemented to improve population diets for everyone.