Nutrition Policy for the Prevention of Disease: Issues of Cost-effectiveness

Governments should implement nutrition policies that will improve population health.These policies include reducing the salt content of processed foods, use of dietary supplements of proven value, eliminating hydrogenated oils that contain trans fatty acids from food.Implementation of the proposed policies would cost relatively little and should achieve significant health benefits within a few years.These policies therefore have a very attractive cost-effectiveness (i.e., they generate quality-adjusted life years [QALYs] at a fraction of the cost of many types of conventional medical treatment). Governments should implement nutrition policies that will improve population health. These policies include reducing the salt content of processed foods, use of dietary supplements of proven value, eliminating hydrogenated oils that contain trans fatty acids from food. Implementation of the proposed policies would cost relatively little and should achieve significant health benefits within a few years. These policies therefore have a very attractive cost-effectiveness (i.e., they generate quality-adjusted life years [QALYs] at a fraction of the cost of many types of conventional medical treatment).