S3.1.1
Novel method to achieve price-optimized, fully nutritious, health-promoting and acceptable national food baskets
Alexandr Parlesak1, Joao Breda2, Aileen Robertson1
1Metropolitan University College, WHO Collaborating Centre Global Nutrition and Health, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2WHO
Regional Office for Europe, Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Life-course, Copenhagen, Denmark
SIG: Yes, Policies and environments
Objective: The purpose of this study was to generate a framework for the development of health-promoting,
fully nutritious, socially acceptable, and affordable national food baskets to be used as an advocacy tool
by governments. In addition to containing all (micro-)nutrient requirements, food baskets should also
reflect dietary guidelines to prevent non-communicable diseases and be optimized to achieve the highest
possible social acceptance. So far, integrative approaches that include all these aspects are lacking.
Methods: Food composition, local availability, food prices, national and international recommendations on
‘healthy’ nutrition, and current respective preferences of the corresponding populations were optimized
using linear programming (LP) methods (Dantzig’s simplex algorithm). The desired outcomes were ‘best-forprice’ solutions (= food baskets) from a list of 150-190 locally available foods. The study was designed
to obtain healthy, affordable, and socially acceptable diets for three European countries (Denmark,
Slovenia, and Romania) and in three regions within Canada, Argentina, and Switzerland. Moreover, the costs
for the “limiting” micronutrients and relative price increases were calculated after including a range of
constraints (e.g. dietary recommendations vs. nutrient requirements; wider range of biodiversity (increased
number of foods included) and social acceptability). All data were collected in the respective countries
using standard methodology.
Results: Key micronutrients influencing the increased cost of food baskets were calcium, potassium, and the
vitamins A, B2, C and D. When additional constraints were applied by integrating foodbased dietary
guidelines and social acceptability (as measured by current consumption patterns, central 80% percentile),
the cost increased by approximately one third and three fold, respectively. The wider range of biodiversity
resulted in just minor increases in cost.
Conclusions: The cost of health-promoting, fully nutritious,and socially acceptable food baskets depended
primarily on their adaptation to local dietary patterns. Fully nutritious and health-promoting food baskets
can be achieved at a relatively low price. However, if these are not socially acceptable to the target
population, the use of a framework using linear programming based solely on nutritional values seems
limited.