41: A Quantitative Study of Affordability of Healthy Diets in Massachusetts

Thomas M. Menino Convention & Exhibition Center 

Food insecurity is a major public health concern in the United States, with profound implications for physical health as well as cognitive and social development in children. It is known that food insecurity is caused by a combination of availability, affordability, access and utilization. While measures of cost of a balanced and affordable meals and physical access to retailers exist, they often do not account for the joint impact. For example, a store within access may be unaffordable and vice versa. This study aims to evaluate the local food environment by estimating the cost of a balanced meal in a given store type in Massachusetts counties. We analyze products and prices reported by a sample of retailers, mapping retail food items to nutritional value and cost, and calculate cost of a balanced meal according to USDA My Plate dietary guideline. In the future, we plan to combine transportation analysis to retailers and build a framework to assess Massachusetts local food environment. This would help inform food assistance programs and community nutrition initiatives in Massachusetts.

Food access equity, food insecurity

USDA My Plate

Healthy diet affordability

Local food environment

Retail food analysis

Massachusetts, community nutrition initiatives 

Health Policy Statistics Section