FOOD AFFORDABILITY, DOES IT ALWAYS LEAD TO HEALTHY FOOD CHOICES? (PART 2)
Promoting healthy eating, needless to say, start with access to adequate food sources. The affordability of food is obviously the first and fundamental step, but it is by no means the only factor that influence accessibility to food. Beyond affordability, here are the other factors that influence access to nutritious food.
Availability
The sufficiency of food supply individuals can access has an impact on their nutrition profiles. Food sources can include restaurants, take-aways, street food stalls and fresh produce. Such food supply environments can influence the type of food an individual can access, including its affordability.
A food desert exists when there is limited access to nutritious food such as fruits and vegetables and wholegrains. A food desert is characterised by low food access communities with limited alternative food sources that provide nutritious food options, large number of individuals who lack access to nutritious food sources and individuals living a great distance from a supermarket or grocery store. Rural communities that lack sources of nutritious food in their vicinity and have to travel greater distances to find adequate food supplies also qualify as food deserts. Food deserts can have large number of convenient stores, tuck-shops, fast-food restaurants, and general dealers that don’t supply enough nutritious food items. Most of these grocery outlets focus on selling fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) that are usually full of sugar, salt, fat, and usually highly processed food items associated with lifestyle ill-health. Lack of transport to reach food sources limit access while long distances increase the cost of buying nutritious food items. Households who shop from supermarkets are likely to report consumption of fruits and vegetables than those who don’t. Acceptability and Accommodation Acceptability refers to the quality of food the consumer is willing to accept. There are several aspects that comprise the quality of a product. For food however, taste can play a significant role. Taste can influence food choice more than the perceived health benefits. Accommodation refers to the degree of convenience a shop provides its customers, for example, opening hours. Longer opening hours provide more flexibility which promotes better access to food by consumers.
Conclusion
Food affordability plays a fundamental role in enabling consumers to make healthy food choices. It is however worth noting that the relationship between affordability and willingness to buy healthy food is not a simple one. Other factors such as personal behaviours, availability of food sources, marketing influences and living in a food desert can all have a significant impact of accessibility to nutritious food sources and motivation to buy more healthy foods.
Dr Elijah Sivako is an Accident & Emergency Doctor at Princess Marina Hospital. Disclaimer: The author writes in his personal capacity. The views of the author do not represent the opinions or views his employer.