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Economic Costs and Benefits of Promoting Healthy Takeaway Meals at Workplace Canteens

Jensen, Jørgen ; Mørkbak, Morten and Nordström, Jonas LU (2012) In Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis 3(4).
Abstract
Canteen Takeaway is a novel concept, which entails workplace canteens to utilise existing production capacity to supply packaged meals for employees to bring home. The concept has a potential to raise the average nutritional quality of employees' diets. The purpose of the study is to assess the economic net gains for users, and for society as a whole, of promoting healthy canteen takeaway meals, using Danish workplaces as an example. The analytical framework for the study combines direct cost analyses, users’ willingness to pay estimated through a choice experiment and cost-of-illness methods to assess the net society costs and benefits associated with an extended use of canteen takeaway meals as a health promotion strategy. The results... (More)
Canteen Takeaway is a novel concept, which entails workplace canteens to utilise existing production capacity to supply packaged meals for employees to bring home. The concept has a potential to raise the average nutritional quality of employees' diets. The purpose of the study is to assess the economic net gains for users, and for society as a whole, of promoting healthy canteen takeaway meals, using Danish workplaces as an example. The analytical framework for the study combines direct cost analyses, users’ willingness to pay estimated through a choice experiment and cost-of-illness methods to assess the net society costs and benefits associated with an extended use of canteen takeaway meals as a health promotion strategy. The results show that employees have a positive willingness to pay for health attributes in canteen takeaway meals, but with a minority having a highly negative willingness to pay for the canteen takeaway concept. The potential health effects of a healthy canteen takeaway programme are estimated to be positive, but modest in magnitude. The estimated costs of providing healthy canteen takeaway meals exceed the sum of average direct and indirect benefits. In conclusion, healthy CTA programmes seems

to be an economically sustainable intervention at some workplaces, though the analysis does not fully support a full-scale implementation of healthy CTA programmes at Danish workplaces from a welfare economic perspective. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cost-benefit analysis, daly, choice experiment, canteen take-away meals, health
in
Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis
volume
3
issue
4
publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISSN
2152-2812
DOI
10.1515/2152-2812.1116
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
862df5a8-d895-4e14-9099-13058b713aae (old id 3359145)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:20:16
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:52:24
@article{862df5a8-d895-4e14-9099-13058b713aae,
  abstract     = {{Canteen Takeaway is a novel concept, which entails workplace canteens to utilise existing production capacity to supply packaged meals for employees to bring home. The concept has a potential to raise the average nutritional quality of employees' diets. The purpose of the study is to assess the economic net gains for users, and for society as a whole, of promoting healthy canteen takeaway meals, using Danish workplaces as an example. The analytical framework for the study combines direct cost analyses, users’ willingness to pay estimated through a choice experiment and cost-of-illness methods to assess the net society costs and benefits associated with an extended use of canteen takeaway meals as a health promotion strategy. The results show that employees have a positive willingness to pay for health attributes in canteen takeaway meals, but with a minority having a highly negative willingness to pay for the canteen takeaway concept. The potential health effects of a healthy canteen takeaway programme are estimated to be positive, but modest in magnitude. The estimated costs of providing healthy canteen takeaway meals exceed the sum of average direct and indirect benefits. In conclusion, healthy CTA programmes seems<br/><br>
to be an economically sustainable intervention at some workplaces, though the analysis does not fully support a full-scale implementation of healthy CTA programmes at Danish workplaces from a welfare economic perspective.}},
  author       = {{Jensen, Jørgen and Mørkbak, Morten and Nordström, Jonas}},
  issn         = {{2152-2812}},
  keywords     = {{Cost-benefit analysis; daly; choice experiment; canteen take-away meals; health}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis}},
  title        = {{Economic Costs and Benefits of Promoting Healthy Takeaway Meals at Workplace Canteens}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/2152-2812.1116}},
  doi          = {{10.1515/2152-2812.1116}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}