The cost of healthy eating in the UK has soared, outpacing price increases for less nutritious food, according to a new report.
The Food Foundation's annual Broken Plate report reveals that healthier options, lower in fat, salt, and sugar, now cost more than double per calorie compared to less healthy alternatives.
This disparity has grown over the past two years, exacerbating the challenge of maintaining a healthy diet, particularly for low-income families.
The report highlights the significant financial burden of following government dietary recommendations. For the most deprived 20 per cent of the population, achieving a healthy diet would require a staggering 45 per cent of their disposable income.
This figure jumps to 70 per cent for families with children in the same income bracket. While this represents a slight decrease from the peak of the cost-of-living crisis in 2021-22, when this figure reached 50 per cent, it remains higher than the 43 per cent recorded the previous year.
Further compounding the issue, the report found that supermarket promotions disproportionately favor unhealthy items. Over a third (37 per cent) of promotions on food and non-alcoholic drinks are for less healthy options. Access to healthy food is also a concern, with fast-food outlets accounting for a quarter (26 per cent) of all food retailers in England. This rises to almost one in three in the most deprived areas, further limiting access to affordable, nutritious food.
Meanwhile, more than a third (36 per cent) of food and soft drink advertising spending is on confectionery, snacks, deserts and soft drinks, compared to just 2 per cent for fruit and vegetables.
While children across all income groups are eating significantly more unhealthy food than is recommended for good health, children in the most deprived fifth of the population were found to be nearly twice as likely to be living with obesity as those in the least deprived fifth by their first year of school.
Deprived groups were much more likely to be affected by type 2 diabetes, with those in the most deprived fifth of the population almost three times more likely to experience a lower-limb amputation than the least deprived fifth in 2022.
Similarly, children in their last year of primary school in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to have experienced tooth decay in their adult teeth (23 per cent) compared to those in the least deprived areas (10 per cent).
Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, said, “The Broken Plate report sadly shows that our food system is failing to provide large swathes of the population with the basic nutrition needed for them to stay healthy and thrive.
“There is a tragic imbalance in the UK between the food that is marketed, available and affordable, and foods that are healthy and sustainable. Often it is the most vulnerable children in our society who suffer the worst consequences of this.
“Not only can lack of nutrition lead to serious health conditions, it can also lead to children being unable to concentrate in school and have lasting negative impact on mental health, entrenching inequalities from a young age.
“The Government has recently announced that it has started working on a National Food Strategy. We hope that this will be seized as an opportunity to tackle these inequalities through cross departmental working, with acknowledgment that key changes to the food system can help to achieve Labour’s missions, from economic growth, to breaking down barriers to opportunity to relieving pressure on the NHS.”
Henry Dimbleby, the former government food tsar and author of the last National Food Strategy, said: “This report couldn’t come at a more critical moment. As the government rolls out its new food strategy, addressing the incentives that drive the sale and aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods must be a top priority.
“The human and economic toll is too great to ignore any longer.”
Professor Susan Jebb, chairwoman of the Food Standards Agency, said: “I’m very pleased to welcome the publication of the Food Foundation’s new Broken Plate report.
“We need to find ways to deliver safe, healthy, sustainable food as the default across the food system. If we can reshape the food environment, I feel confident we can improve people’s experience so that everyone – whatever their circumstances – can get the physical and mental nourishment that comes from good food.”
Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs Daniel Zeichner said: “The Food Foundation’s Broken Plate report highlights important issues with the UK’s food system, with unhealthy diets driving obesity levels.
“That is why we will introduce a cross-Government food strategy to ensure our food system can continue to feed the nation, realise its potential for economic growth, protect the planet, and nourish individuals.
“We cannot do this alone, which is why we are working with those across the food sector, utilising their expertise, to transform the industry for good.”
