Retail cost and energy adjusted cost are associated with dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy for diets of 6–24 months children

Abstract

Poor nutrition during the first two years of life has long term consequences, but resourcepoor households often do not have the means to access nutrient-dense and diverse diets. Pooled data of 24-h dietary recalls (n = 3336) and 2019 retail food prices were analyzed to determine associations of retail cost and energy cost (per 100 kcal) with diet quality indicators for diets of 6–24-monthold South African children who were breastfed (BF-diet) and not breastfed (NBF-diet) during the 24-h recall period. Compared to the BF-diet, retail cost for the NBF-diet was three times higher for age 6–11 months, and double for age 12–17 months.