News Release
Discounts on Healthy Foods Can Improve Diet Quality; First Result from a National Program
Mar 19, 2013
A National Discount Program for Healthy Food Purchases in South Africa
Published In: American Journal of Health Behavior, v. 37, no. 1, Jan. 2013, p. 56-61
Posted on RAND.org on August 03, 2012
OBJECTIVES: To examine whether reducing prices for healthy food purchases leads to changes in self-reported measures of food consumption and weight status. METHODS: Repeated surveys of about 350,000 HealthyFood participants and nonparticipants. RESULTS: Program participation is associated with more consumption of fruits/vegetables and whole-grain foods and less consumption of high sugar/salt foods, fried foods, processed meats, and fast food. There is no strong evidence that participation reduces obesity. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial price intervention might be effective in improving diets.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation External publication series. Many RAND studies are published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as chapters in commercial books, or as documents published by other organizations.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.