The economic burden of inadequate consumption of vegetables and fruit in Canada

Abstract

ObjectivePublic health decision makers not only consider health benefits but also economic implications when articulating and issuing lifestyle recommendations. Whereas various estimates exist for the economic burden of physical inactivity, excess body weight and smoking, estimates of the economic burden associated with our diet are rare. In the present study, we estimated the economic burden attributable to the inadequate consumption of vegetables and fruit in Canada.DesignWe accessed the Canadian Community Health Survey to assess the inadequacy in the consumption of vegetables and fruit and published meta-analyses to assemble risk estimates for chronic diseases. Based on these inadequacy and risk estimates, we calculated the population-attributable fraction and avoidable direct and indirect costs to society. Direct costs include those for hospital care, physician services and drugs in 2015.ResultsAbout 80 % of women and 89 % of men consume inadequate amounts of vegetables and fruit. We estimated this to result in an economic burden of $CAN 3·3 billion per year, of which 30·5 % is direct health-care costs and 69·5 % is indirect costs due to productivity losses. A modest 1 percentage point annual reduction in the prevalence of inadequate vegetables and fruit consumption over the next 20 years would avoid approximately $CAN 10·8 billion, and an increase of one serving of vegetables and fruit per day would avoid approximately $CAN 9·2 billion.ConclusionsFurther investments in the promotion of vegetables and fruit will prevent chronic disease and substantially reduce direct and indirect health-care costs.

Healthcare Expenditure and Productivity Cost Savings from Reductions in Cardiovascular Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Associated with Increased Intake of Cereal Fibre among Australian Adults: A Cost of Illness Analysis

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Gender differences and typical nutrition concerns of the diets of preschool children – the results of the first stage of an intervention study

“…This study proved that dietary interventions are necessary to improve children’s nutrition. Planning and carrying out such interventions is essential not only to the children themselves and to their families, due to increasing the quality of life and the possibilities of personal physical, mental and emotional development [ 1 ], but also to the whole society, due to reducing the costs of health care, reducing absence rate at work due to illness and increasing the productivity [ 10 – 12 ].…”

Beetroot and Sodium Nitrate Ameliorate Cardiometabolic Changes in Diet‐Induced Obese Hypertensive Rats

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