Soaring prices of healthy foods fuel worsening health risks in countries, study finds (News Chronicle)

News Chronicle (Nigeria) published an article on a new study on how the relative prices of healthy and unhealthy foods have been implicated in increased cases of obesity in some countries and such prices could also be linked to nutrition outcomes including under-nutrition globally. The study, The relative caloric prices of healthy and unhealthy foods differ systematically across income levels and continents shows differences in prices of food products across countries may explain the variation in increased malnutrition globally. Senior Research Fellow Derek Headey, says “there are about two billion people with micronutrient deficiencies such as anemia, and several hundred million very young and vulnerable children suffering from stunted growth globally.” If increasing taxes on unhealthy food products is not having the desired effects, something has to be done to discourage consumers from patronizing unhealthy food products and producers from producing them.