ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2020
Is healthy eating too expensive?: How low-income parents evaluate the cost of food.
Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- How does the food environment influence people engaged in weight management? A systematic review and thematic synthesis of the qualitative literature.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2022Pooled it
- Review
- Benchmarking the nutrition-related commitments and practices of major Belgian food companies by industry sector and over time (2019-2023/2024).BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Applying Social Cognitive Theory to Understand Perspectives on Child Feeding Practices of Thai Female Caregivers With Young Children With Stunting.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- How Does Household Food Insecurity Impact Complementary Feeding, in High Income Countries, in a Cost-of-Living Crisis? A Systematic Scoping Review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Article
- Dietary and Consumer Behaviors in Individuals Currently Using Substances: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on NHANES (2013 - 2018).American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2025Article
- Embodying disadvantage: a theoretically-informed analysis of pathways linking socioeconomic position with all-cause and cancer mortality in a nationally representative cohort of adults in Canada.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Evaluation of a national supermarket intervention supporting vulnerable families in healthy meal practices: a natural experiment.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- The Influence of Consumption Purpose on Consumer Preferences for Fruit Attributes: The Moderating Effect of Color Perception.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Exploring the Antecedents and Consequences of Perceived Fairness in Beef Pricing: The Moderating Role of Freshness Under Conditions of Information Overload.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Leveraging Technology to Engage Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Consumers With Children at Farmers Markets: Qualitative Community-Engaged Approach to App Development.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Affordability of Habitual (Unhealthy) and Recommended (Healthy) Diets in the Illawarra Using the Healthy Diets ASAP Protocol.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Food Access in New York City During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Media Monitoring Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Household food insecurity and novel complementary feeding methods in New Zealand families.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Observational
- Household barriers and facilitators to healthy eating in a U.S. census-representative sample of the general population and a low-income sample: a cross-sectional survey.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The full picture of people's realities must be considered to deliver better diets for all.Nature food · 2024Review
- A Cross-Sectional Study of Grocery Shopping Factors of Importance among Food-Insecure African Americans.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Determinants of obesity in Latin America.Nature metabolism · 2024 · on this mapReview
- Demographic risk factors of pro-inflammatory diet: a narrative review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
Debates about whether a healthy diet is affordable often overlook how low-income consumers themselves evaluate food cost. This question is relevant to explaining food choices and measuring food prices. Drawing on interviews with 49 low-income primary caregivers and grocery-shopping observations with 34 of these interviewees, I find that respondents judge food cost in two ways: 1) absolute judgments, or assessments of whether a food covers a family's needs with scarce resources and 2) relative judgments, or interpretations of price relative to another food that frames an item as affordable or pricey by contrast. Absolute judgments reflect actual expenditures, including not just the sticker price, but also four underappreciated monetary costs. These underappreciated costs stem from food waste; packages containing more than is needed; food that is consumed too quickly; and unsatiating foods. When monetary costs go unmeasured and when consumers interpret prices in relative terms, researchers' views of food cost diverge from the experiences of low-income people. Divergent views have two results: food-cost estimates overstate the affordability of a healthy diet and observers may misconstrue purchases as financially imprudent. These findings can inform policy, programming, and public discourse.
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Registered trials
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