Healthy diets ASAP - Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing methods protocol

Area of Science:

• Public Health Nutrition
• Health Economics
• Food Policy

Background:

• Assessing the price and affordability of healthy diets is crucial for public health.
• Existing methods for monitoring diet costs lack standardization, hindering global comparisons.
• The International Network for Food and Obesity / non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) provides an optimal framework for global food price monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the rationale, development, and final protocol of the Healthy Diets Australian Standardised Affordability and Pricing (ASAP) method.
• To establish a standardized approach for assessing, comparing, and monitoring the price, price differential, and affordability of healthy and unhealthy diets in Australia.
• To inform the development of nutrition policy actions aimed at reducing diet-related chronic diseases.

Main Methods:

• The protocol was developed through literature review, drafting, piloting, and revision.
• Key stakeholder consultation, including a national forum, was integral to the development process.
• The protocol is structured into five parts: diet pricing tools, income calculation, store sampling, price data collection, and analysis/reporting.

Main Results:

• The Healthy Diets ASAP protocol offers a standardized methodology for assessing diet price and affordability in Australia.
• It aligns with the INFORMAS optimal approach for monitoring food prices and affordability at a country level.
• The protocol provides a framework for enhancing the monitoring and utility of dietary price and affordability data.

Conclusions:

• The Healthy Diets ASAP protocol is a robust, standardized method for assessing diet affordability in Australia.
• Its application can inform effective nutrition policies to combat chronic diseases.
• The protocol is adaptable for use in other countries to monitor diet costs and affordability globally.