Methodological challenges to evaluating the health economic impact of nutritional interventions

Abstract

Enhancing the diet by increasing or decreasing consumption of selected foods or nutrients is a well-accepted method of improving population health in certain settings.  However, the economic impact of most dietary interventions is largely unknown.  Studies in the past decade have started to estimate the effects on healthcare costs, often through economic models, but the evaluation of nutritional interventions is challenging and faces uncertainties unique to the domain, compared with more straightforward analyses of medical or surgical interventions.  This paper discusses three main areas of uncertainty: measurement of consumption, assessing effectiveness, and considerations about the economic inputs to a model.  Insight into these sources of uncertainty can help readers assess the quality of existing studies, and provide guidance for their future research.