What is an affordable nutritious food? Applications of the nutrient density score across and within food groups

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines suggest that consumers replace some of the foods in their diet with more nutrient dense options. The positive association between higher diet quality and elevated cost of dietary energy may also exist within food groups. Based on foods consumed by 1,332 adults in the French national food consumption survey, we calculated cost of energy, nutrient density and excess of problematic nutrients for 7 major food groups and 27 food subgroups. As a group, meat and fish and vegetables and fruit had the highest nutrient density scores but were the most expensive sources of energy. Grains provided low cost energy and were free of problematic nutrients. Added sugars, added fats, and foods high in fat, sugar, and salt, provided dietary energy at the lowest cost, but had the lowest nutrient density scores. Rather than prioritize nutrient dense foods within each food group, study participants tended to select the lower cost foods, even though those foods had a lower nutrient density. These data confirm that a nutrient density gradient does exist within food groups, underscoring the need for nutritional profiling of individual food items. The inclusion of food costs and the nutrient-to-price ratio permits a determination of how a nutrient dense diet can be obtained at an affordable cost. Support: French NRA & INPES, USDA CSREES 2004-35215-14441, National Cattlemen's Beef Association & Dairy Management, Inc.