Higher Childhood BMI Linked to High Price of Fruits and Vegetables

New research in the journal Pediatrics links the high cost of fruits and vegetables with a higher body mass index (BMI) in young children from low- and middle-income households.

That a cheeseburger and fries at the drive-thru can cost less money than a head of broccoli at the supermarket is not a new revelation, but researchers from American University have linked higher childrens' BMIs with the high cost of healthy food and families buying less of it, and more of cheaper, less healthful alternatives.

"There is a small, but significant, association between the prices of fruit and vegetables and higher child BMI," said Taryn Morrissey, the study's lead author and assistant professor of public administration and policy at AU's School of Public Affairs (SPA).

Morrissey and her colleagues found that this was driven by the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than frozen or canned varieties.

The researchers used data of American children from infancy to age 5 taken from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort and local food price data from the Council for Community and Economic Research Cost-of-Living Index.

A family of four with an income of $70,650 in 2013 was the benchmark for the study.

"While, in general, food prices have trended downward in recent decades, particularly the prices of snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages, the real prices of restaurant meals and fruits and vegetables have increased," American University said in a statement. "Fruit and vegetable prices increased by 17 percent between 1997 and 2003 alone. Children living in areas with higher-priced fruits and vegetables averaged higher measures of BMI scores compared with their peers in areas with lower-priced fruits and vegetables."