Comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the Caribbean
Objective. To assess the ability of low-income families to obtain a standard basket of healthy foods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. The costs of 191 food items were averaged from supermarkets, municipal markets, wholesalers, and community food outlets in high- and low-income areas...
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Pan American Health Organization
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2022.120 https://doaj.org/article/00624b28bf654af488d1715d016095fe |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:00624b28bf654af488d1715d016095fe 2023-05-15T15:08:15+02:00 Comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the Caribbean Fitzroy J. Henry Beverly Lawrence Melissa Nelson 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2022.120 https://doaj.org/article/00624b28bf654af488d1715d016095fe EN ES PT eng spa por Pan American Health Organization https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/56282 https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1020-4989 1680-5348 doi:10.26633/RPSP.2022.120 https://doaj.org/article/00624b28bf654af488d1715d016095fe Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 46, Iss 120, Pp 1-6 (2022) diet vulnerability analysis health promotion poverty west indies Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2022.120 2022-12-30T22:13:49Z Objective. To assess the ability of low-income families to obtain a standard basket of healthy foods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. The costs of 191 food items were averaged from supermarkets, municipal markets, wholesalers, and community food outlets in high- and low-income areas in three Caribbean countries. The analysis compared foods not only by selecting high- and low-ranked commodities but by the proportions of those foods, by food group, that will be required to meet a low-cost, nutritionally balanced diet of 2 400 kcal. Results. The main finding was that low-income households will need between 22% and 47% of their earnings to obtain a healthy diet. Despite higher food prices in Saint Kitts and Nevis, low-income households there will need a smaller proportion of their income to obtain a similar basket of foods than in Jamaica or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Conclusions. While the COVID-19 pandemic has added economic stressors to low-income households the basic vulnerability of the poor to obtain a healthy diet remains. Despite country variations, the findings point to the need for an increase in the minimum wage, particularly in Jamaica. It is essential to embed policies that ensure reduced economic and social vulnerability at the household level. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Saint-Vincent ENVELOPE(-59.515,-59.515,50.600,50.600) Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública 46 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Spanish Portuguese |
topic |
diet vulnerability analysis health promotion poverty west indies Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
diet vulnerability analysis health promotion poverty west indies Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Fitzroy J. Henry Beverly Lawrence Melissa Nelson Comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the Caribbean |
topic_facet |
diet vulnerability analysis health promotion poverty west indies Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Objective. To assess the ability of low-income families to obtain a standard basket of healthy foods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. The costs of 191 food items were averaged from supermarkets, municipal markets, wholesalers, and community food outlets in high- and low-income areas in three Caribbean countries. The analysis compared foods not only by selecting high- and low-ranked commodities but by the proportions of those foods, by food group, that will be required to meet a low-cost, nutritionally balanced diet of 2 400 kcal. Results. The main finding was that low-income households will need between 22% and 47% of their earnings to obtain a healthy diet. Despite higher food prices in Saint Kitts and Nevis, low-income households there will need a smaller proportion of their income to obtain a similar basket of foods than in Jamaica or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Conclusions. While the COVID-19 pandemic has added economic stressors to low-income households the basic vulnerability of the poor to obtain a healthy diet remains. Despite country variations, the findings point to the need for an increase in the minimum wage, particularly in Jamaica. It is essential to embed policies that ensure reduced economic and social vulnerability at the household level. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fitzroy J. Henry Beverly Lawrence Melissa Nelson |
author_facet |
Fitzroy J. Henry Beverly Lawrence Melissa Nelson |
author_sort |
Fitzroy J. Henry |
title |
Comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the Caribbean |
title_short |
Comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the Caribbean |
title_full |
Comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the Caribbean |
title_fullStr |
Comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the Caribbean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the Caribbean |
title_sort |
comparative cost of diets for low-income families in the caribbean |
publisher |
Pan American Health Organization |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2022.120 https://doaj.org/article/00624b28bf654af488d1715d016095fe |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-59.515,-59.515,50.600,50.600) |
geographic |
Arctic Saint-Vincent |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Saint-Vincent |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 46, Iss 120, Pp 1-6 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/56282 https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1020-4989 1680-5348 doi:10.26633/RPSP.2022.120 https://doaj.org/article/00624b28bf654af488d1715d016095fe |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2022.120 |
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Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública |
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46 |
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