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Modeling a healthy and affordable diet for a local Food-Bank

Abstract:

In the last decade, the quality of life has improved thanks to the cure, control and prevention of various diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, anemia and osteoporosis—and by following a healthy diet. However, research in the field of healthcare provides a limited understanding on how to provide good nutrition without incurring in high operational costs, especially for low-income populations. This paper proposes an optimization model that minimizes the costs incurred in the preparation of the diet for low-income children, from 4 to 8 years of age, who have reported malnutrition, and who receive contributions from a local food bank. Through the application of such optimization model, we propose a diet that not only allows the food bank to provide its resources in a more efficient way, but also contributes to quantify the impact its work has in the community. Simultaneously, the proposed diet would potentially encourage the food bank’s beneficiaries to adopt healthier eating habits—which they don’t have nowadays given the economic implications.