A healthy diet in the sultanate has been ranked as the second most expensive in South-East Asia, according to a new set of indicators from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
The daily cost in Brunei is US$4.41 (RM19.53) per person based on purchasing power parity exchange rates that equal currency buying powers by removing differences in prices between countries, said the report.
Indonesia has the highest cost at US$4.47 (RM19.79) followed by Brunei, Thailand (US$4.32 or RM19.11), Myanmar (US$4.19 or RM18.53), Laos (US$4.14 or RM18.31), the Philippines (US$4.11 or RM18.18) and Vietnam (US$4.07 or RM18).
Cambodia’s daily cost is US$3.89 (RM17.21), followed by Malaysia (US$3.54 or RM15.66). It is the lowest in Singapore (US$3.06 or RM13.53).The report said diet quality is a critical link between food security and nutrition.
Poor diet quality can lead to different forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, as well as overweight and obesity.
The effects of inflation in consumer food prices stemming from the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures put in place to contain it have increased the costs and the unaffordability of a healthy diet around the world.
In 2020, the sharp increase in global consumer food prices in the second half of the year translated directly into an increased average cost of a healthy diet at the global level, and for all regions and almost all sub-regions in the world.
The average cost of a healthy diet globally in 2020 was US$3.54 per person per day; 3.3% more than in 2019 and 6.7% more than in 2017.
Almost 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020 – an increase of 112 million people than in 2019, reflecting the higher costs of a healthy diet in 2020.
This was mainly driven by Asia, where 78 million more people were unable to afford this diet, followed by Africa (25 million more people), and Latin America and the Caribbean (eight million more people).
The cost of a healthy diet will likely continue to rise as food prices surged in 2021 and 2022. — Borneo Bulletin/ANN
