HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (Publish Ahead of Print[PDF]) Podcast All Versions of this Article: 89/4/1220    most recent ajcn.2008.26916v1 Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Townsend, M. S Articles by Drewnowski, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Townsend, M. S Articles by Drewnowski, A. Agricola Articles by Townsend, M. S Articles by Drewnowski, A.

Less-energy-dense diets of low-income women in California are associated with higher energy-adjusted diet costs^1,2,3

¹ From the Nutrition Department (MST and GJA) and the Western Human Nutrition Research Center (NLK), University of California, Davis, CA, and the Nutritional Sciences Program, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (PM and AD).

² Supported by the USDA Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (National Research Initiative grant 2004-35215-14441).

³ Reprints not available. Address correspondence to MS Townsend, Nutrition Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. E-mail: mstownsend{at}ucdavis.edu.

ABSTRACT

Background: US-based studies are needed to estimate the relation, if any, between diet quality and estimated diet costs.

Objective: We hypothesized that lower cost diets among low-income women in California would be energy dense but nutrient poor.

Design: Energy and nutrient intakes for 112 women aged 18–45 y living in California were obtained with a food-frequency instrument. Dietary energy density (in MJ/kg or kcal/g) and energy-adjusted diet costs (in $/10 MJ or $/2000 kcal) were calculated with local food prices. Tertile splits of energy density and energy cost were analyzed with one-factor analysis of variance.

Results: Mean daily energy intake excluding all beverages was 7.1 MJ (1699 kcal), and mean dietary energy density was 6.5 kJ/kg (1.54 kcal/g). Lower dietary energy density was associated with significantly higher intakes of dietary fiber (P = 0.004), vitamin A (P < 0.001), and vitamin C (P < 0.001) and with significantly lower intakes of total fat (P = 0.003) and saturated fat (P < 0.001). Higher diet cost was associated with significantly lower dietary energy density (P < 0.001), total fat (P = 0.024), and saturated fat (P = 0.025) and with significantly higher intakes of vitamins A (P = 0.003) and C (P < 0.001). Each additional dollar in estimated diet costs was associated with a drop in energy density of 0.94 MJ/kg (0.225 kcal/g).

Conclusions: The finding that higher quality diets were more costly for these low-income women has implications for the food assistance and education programs of the US Department of Agriculture. Policy interventions may be required to allow low-income families in the United States to improve the quality of their diets given their food budget constraints.

Received for publication September 2, 2008. Accepted for publication January 8, 2009.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Frazao Less-energy-dense diets of low-income women in California are associated with higher energy-adjusted costs but not with higher daily diet costs Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, September 1, 2009; 90(3): 701 - 701. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Drewnowski, P. Monsivais, M. S Townsend, G. J Aaron, and N. L Keim Reply to E Frazao Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, September 1, 2009; 90(3): 701 - 702. [Full Text] [PDF]