Poorest Families Must Spend 85 Of Disposable Income To Get Healthy Diet Study

The poorest families with children need to spend 85% of their disposable income to afford a healthy diet, according to an annual report.

Healthier food is nearly twice as expensive per calorie as less healthy alternatives, with foods high in fat, salt and sugar being the only group to have seen a price drop in the last year, the Food Foundation’s Broken Plate report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, said.

Protein foods saw the largest annual increase in price at 4%, followed by fruit and vegetables at 1.7%.

Meanwhile, fast-food outlets make up a quarter of places to buy food in England, rising to more than one in three in the most deprived areas.

The study found households in the lowest income fifth of the UK population would need to spend 49% of their disposable income to afford the Government-recommended healthy diet, known as the Eatwell Guide – up four percentage points since 2024.

This increases to 85% of disposable income for households with children – a 15 percentage point increase since 2024.

The data was gathered last year before the Middle East conflict broke out, meaning families are set to be under increasing pressure to afford food over the coming months.

Just one in 10 of those aged 11 to 18 eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day while 95% consume more than the recommended amount of free sugar, according to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

The Food Foundation is calling for urgent action, including mandatory reporting by businesses of healthy food sales, a support package for low-income families to afford healthy and sustainable food, including an expansion of Healthy Start, and a Good Food Bill to provide long-term “nutritional security and protection” for consumers and farmers.