The true cost of healthy eating in the UK

Food plays a major role in maintaining and improving our health and wellness, with all health authorities recommending we eat a balanced diet to keep ourselves in top form.

However, new research suggests it is easier said than done as eating healthily has become significantly more expensive than the alternative. A study conducted by The Food Foundation found that, on average, healthier foods are more than twice as expensive per calorie as less healthy foods.

Foods that are considered healthier, as defined by the government’s Nutrient Profile Model, are increasing in price at twice the rate of foods considered to be unhealthy over the past two years.

The price of more healthy foods rose by 21% between 2022 and 2024, compared to less healthy foods which saw a price increase of just 11%.

What are healthy VS unhealthy foods?

The Food Foundation’s report makes a distinction between healthy and unhealthy foods according to the UK Nutrient Profiling Model, as well as the Eatwell Guide, which is the government’s official guidance on the types and proportions of food needed for a healthy diet.

By and large, foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) are considered unhealthy. Many of these are also considered UPFs, as they contain ingredients such as sweeteners, emulsifiers, flavours and artificial colours.

But despite the growing evidence that HFSS foods and UPFs are contributing to obesity in the UK - 26% of the UK population are classified as obese, equivalent to approximately 22.5 million people - the price of healthier foods continue to be higher and are increasing at a faster rate.

This means that families struggling with financial insecurity are finding it harder to afford and access healthier options. The Food Foundation found that 60% of households experiencing food insecurity have reduced their purchases of fruit, while 44% cut back on vegetables, and 59% on fish.

The report revealed that the most deprived households would need to spend 45% of their disposable income on food to afford the government-recommended healthy diet. This figure rises to 70% for families with children.

The impact on children from the most deprived families is also clear through the report. On average, children consume less than half the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables, but over twice the recommended amount of sugar.

Those from the most deprived families consume 20% less fruit and vegetables and 17% less fibre compared to the least deprived.

Britons have been warned that they will feel the pinch even more in the latter half of the year, after the British Retail Consortium predicted that food prices will rise by an average of 4.2%. Inflation across a number of areas, including food, mean many people have been struggling with the cost of living crisis since late 2021, with few signs of relief.

Commenting on the findings, Sophie Tebbetts, CEO of FoodCycle, says it’s not just the rising cost of food that is impacting the poorest individuals. "It’s also the cost of cooking and preparing that food," she tells Yahoo UK. "Some 41% of FoodCycle guests don’t own an oven and 70% of our guests have had to access other services so that they can eat - this includes accessing food banks and borrowing money.

"Both FoodCycle and the Food Foundation agree that in order to create a fairer food system we have to make access to healthy food choices accessible to everyone."

The health cost of a ‘broken’ food system

FoodCycle has an forthcoming report that will reinforce The Food Foundation’s findings and highlight the "urgent issue" of poor diet in the UK, Tebbetts tells Yahoo UK exclusively.

She adds that poor diets are responsible for 13% of all deaths and contribute to over 75,000 premature deaths each year.

"The Food Foundation report reinforces these findings, highlighting how children in the most deprived areas are nearly twice as likely to be obese by their first year of school; there was a 68% increase in diabetes-related amputations since 2009 and the annual cost of obesity is £58 billion," Tebbetts adds.

Evidence showing the negative impact of unhealthy food has been growing in recent years, linked to illnesses caused by being overweight or obese. Poor diets and obesity have been blamed for a 39% rise in cases of diabetes among people under 40, for example, while ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are linked to 30 different dangerous health outcomes, including heart problems and mental disorders.

Last year, a report by the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) found that the UK’s high consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar is costing the NHS and the economy £268 billion per year.

Within that figure, which was described as "staggering", the FFCC included the direct cost to the government of tackling the impact of diet-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems. This amounted to £92 billion.

The rest of the costs are derived from loss of productivity from individuals who are too ill to work because of diet-related disease and “human costs”, which include chronic pain and early death.

Yet, a 2022 YouGov survey revealed that 7% of Britons eat junk food "every day", while a much higher percentage (40%) eat it at least once a week.

How can the UK tackle the problem?

There are no easy solutions to food inequality, as it is deeply tangled with income inequality. But The Food Foundation to changes that can be made around the promotion of unhealthy foods, as well as improving affordability of healthier foods that can make a difference.

"This report exposes a troubling reality," the charity said. "But we can change this. Our food system can be reshaped so that the healthiest and most sustainable options are the most affordable, available and appealing."

It called on the UK government to take action and pay attention to the policies recommended in the report, which "can improve access and affordability of nutritious food and shape healthy and sustainable food environments".

Tebbetts adds that FoodCycle's upcoming report, in collaboration with the British Nutrition Foundation, reveals how things can be improved from a grassroots level. It looks at how community dining can improve access to healthy foods and support healthier eating choices.

"It shows how community dining provides a stable, dependable, inclusive and dignified service that supports both physical and financial access to food, helping to meet dietary needs and empowering communities to play an active role in their wellbeing," she explains.

Read more about healthy eating:

• Six healthy eating 'rules' to follow in 2025 (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)

• 12 ways to eat more cheaply and healthily as food prices rise (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)

• One food you really need to eat more of — it's not protein (SurreyLive, 5-min read)