Healthier food grew more expensive at twice the rate of less healthy options in the UK over the last two years, a study has found.
Food that is lower in fat, salt and sugar is now more than twice as expensive per calorie than less healthy products, according to the Food Foundation’s annual Broken Plate report.
The most deprived fifth of the population would need to spend 45% of their disposable income on food to afford the government-recommended healthy diet, rising to 70% for these households that also have children, researchers found.
The overall figure has fallen from the peak of the cost-of-living crisis in 2021-2022 – when the most deprived fifth needed to spend 50% to achieve a healthy diet – but remains higher than the previous year’s figure of 43%.
The study found more than a third (37%) of supermarket promotions on food and non-alcoholic drinks are for unhealthy items, and a quarter (26%) of places to buy food in England are fast-food outlets, rising to nearly one in three in the most deprived fifth of areas.
Meanwhile, more than a third (36%) of food and soft drink advertising spending is on confectionery, snacks, deserts and soft drinks, compared to just 2% 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%) compared to those in the least deprived areas (10%).
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.”
