LAUSR

Abstract The high cost of a nutritious diet can worsen nutrition outcomes especially among low-income households. Yet little is known about the cost of a nutritious diet in South Asia, where malnutrition in multiple forms remains high. We use data from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh to calculate the minimum cost of meeting recommended food-based dietary guidelines, or the Cost of a Recommended Diet (CoRD). We further compare CoRD to actual food expenditures. Across these countries, we find that majority of households spend less on food than the CoRD estimate, that an average household overspends on staples and protein foods and underspends on dairy and vegetables, and that subnational variation in CoRD is to an extent driven by the higher variability in the price of vegetables relative to that of starchy staples. Our results suggest a need to shift food policy focus away from energy-dense towards nutrient-rich foods.