Lower-income Americans who are trying to keep fruits and vegetables a big part of their diet are finding that higher prices are getting in their way.

According to a study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, produce prices have been increasing in recent years, while the prices of snack foods have dropped.

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"Whereas (calorie)-dense foods remain the most affordable option, the price of the recommended healthful foods of lower (calorie) density has disproportionately increased," wrote Drs. Pablo Monsivais and Adam Drewnowski.

The study concluded that the trend explained why "the highest rates of obesity continue to be observed in groups of limited economic means."

The study estimated that between 2004 and 2006, overall prices of fruits and vegetables increased by 7.9 percent.

Prices Not Only Problem

Susan Moores, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said prices are not the only problem.

"The challenge, especially for low income (people), is access to, as well as cost of, fresh produce," said Moores. "In the inner cites, it is essentially sort of a food desert because there (aren't) the Rainbows, Cubs and inexpensive kinds of full grocery stores that are as accessible as it is to folks in the outer suburbs."

Weather Affects Prices

Chris Friesleben, director of communications for Hy-Vee, which operates more than 200 food retail stores in the Midwest, said the price of produce is always fluctuating.

"Produce is really an iffy commodity," said Friesleben. "A lot of the price is determined by supply, and a lot of the supply is subject to weather. So, weather plays a big role in the price if you have a bad season."

Two of the country's biggest suppliers of fruits and vegetables are Florida and California, both of which have been rocked by severe weather in recent years. Brutal hurricane seasons in Florida and severe rains, wild fires and deep freezes in California have adversely affected those state's crops.

In January 2007, four nights of freezing temperatures wiped out more than $1 billion of the orange crop in California, which caused the prices of oranges to double, according to USA Today.

Friesleben said that while prices may have gone up in recent years, Hy-Vee's produce departments have not seen a drop in sales.

"We have seen (sales) them stay steady or go up," Friesleben said. "And our produce departments are growing. Every time we open a new store, it seems like we add more square footage space to our produce department."

Friesleben said that fruits and vegetables are a commodity like gasoline -- even when the prices go up, sales do not drop significantly because it is a vital part of people's lives and they probably just cut down on their budget in other areas.

"I am sure it does affect how much they can buy, or the variety that they can buy, but they understand it is important to their diet, so depending on what their food budget is, they will buy some fruits and vegetables," said Friesleben. "People are willing to cut a little out of the food budget in center store. They won't buy as many canned goods, for example, or maybe they will cut down on the ice cream or the meats."

Save By Avoiding Fresh

Moores pointed out that a great way to save money and keep fruits and vegetables in your diet is to look in the canned or frozen section. Fresh fruit must be shipped quickly, which drives up the cost, but canned or frozen may have been picked months before.

"I know there are solutions to (cost). People should look more toward frozen and canned, because then you get strawberries in January, and they are frozen, but the nutritional quality of both canned and frozen is as good and some would argue better than it would be for fresh … Usually, for canned and certainly for frozen, the produce is picked at the peak of its ripeness, and so therefore it is at the peak of its nutritional quality, and then it is processed very quickly."

With California and Florida continuing to provide many fruits and vegetables to the country, it seems the prices will remain in constant flux as long as the weather continues to be as erratic as it has in the past.

"I don't know that freezes are as normal out there, like other things like the wet weather, or the fires can affect their produce crops," Friesleben said of California. "They've got funny weather out there."

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