A healthy diet Is costly, but even with limited income Kenyans can eat better

Globally, poor-quality diets are the leading cause of all forms of malnutrition, and the simultaneous occurrence of both under- and overconsumption within the same populations and even within the same households is increasingly common. This is the case in Kenya where 19 percent of children under five years of age are stunted, and about one-third of women aged 15 to 49 are overweight or obese. This policy brief examines the nutritional quality of Kenyan diets, the affordability of healthy diets in Kenya, and Kenyan food preferences.  Understanding current dietary patterns and the gaps between actual food consumption levels and healthy levels is critical for identifying how those diets can be improved. For many Kenyans, the relatively high cost of a diverse and nutritionally adequate food basket prevents them from consuming healthy diets. However, the food preferences of Kenyans and how their food choices change when food prices or their incomes change also determine whether their diets are as healthy as they could be. The brief finds that these drivers of diet quality can be targeted by various policy instruments and technological innovations to shift food choices toward nutritious foods that, if consumed more, would result in diets that improve the health and quality of life of many Kenyans.