Impact of a cost constraint on nutritionally adequate food choices for French women: an analysis by linear programming.
OBJECTIVE
To predict, for French women, the impact of a cost constraint on the food choices required to provide a nutritionally adequate diet.


METHODS
Isocaloric daily diets fulfilling both palatability and nutritional constraints were modeled in linear programming, using different cost constraint levels. For each modeled diet, total departure from an observed French population's average food group pattern ("mean observed diet") was minimized.


RESULTS
To achieve the nutritional recommendations without a cost constraint, the modeled diet provided more energy from fish, fresh fruits and green vegetables and less energy from animal fats and cheese than the "mean observed diet." Introducing and strengthening a cost constraint decreased the energy provided by meat, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, vegetable fat, and yogurts and increased the energy from processed meat, eggs, offal, and milk. For the lowest cost diet (ie, 3.18 euros/d), marked changes from the "mean observed diet" were required, including a marked reduction in the amount of energy from fresh fruits (-85%) and green vegetables (-70%), and an increase in the amount of energy from nuts, dried fruits, roots, legumes, and fruit juices.


CONCLUSIONS
Nutrition education for low-income French women must emphasize these affordable food choices.
Darmon
Nicole
N
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unit 557, Paris, France. nicole.darmon@medecine.univ-mrs.fr
Ferguson
Elaine L
EL
Briend
André
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003363:Cost Control; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005502:Food / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards*; D005518:Food Preferences; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D009751:Nutritional Requirements