Head to Head: Chips vs. Carrots?

A review on the role of energy density and food costs by Adam Drewnowski and SE Specter, reveals that there is an established relationship between the low cost of calorie-rich foods. People are getting higher percentage of their calories from energy dense foods (high in fat and sugar). Meanwhile the volume of food we eat has remained about consistent. Moreover, energy dense food are more palatable and influence preference of dietary tastes.

Over the past few decades, the cost of energy-dense foods has become very low. For instance, the energy cost of potato chips was about 20cents/MJ(1200kcal/$) while fresh carrots were about 95 cents/MJ(250kcal/$). Energy dense foods have been increasing in the mainstream diet readily over the past few decasdes, and cost for these foods has increased much slower than it has for healthier options of fruits and vegetables. Diets which include a lot of these energy dense, unhealthy options have been linked with higher risks of developing type 2 diabetes and obesity.

The review also revealed that income affects the quality of foods people eat, with higher SES groups having better quality diets. Food costs were found to be an issue for low income families as they spend a higher percentage of their disposable income on food.

This review demonstrates that there are broad factors at play when explaining the rise of the obesity epidemic. The study reveals that cost of food, access to income, how our palate and biopsychological dietary patterns develop based on the energy density of foods, confluence together to influence the rise in obesity!