Crunch time for healthy eating
Updated on 02 October 2008
Nearly a third of adults in the UK are eating less healthily than last year because of soaring food prices and the effects of the credit crunch, according to a survey.
Around one in three, or 32%, said their diet had deteriorated compared to last year as they turned to cheaper processed foods in order to save money. Amongst 35 to 44-year-olds this figure rose to 45%.
The statistics were revealed in a telephone poll of more than 2,000 UK adults conducted earlier this month on behalf of the specialist debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty.
The survey found that more than half, or 53%, of the 2,057 people surveyed said they were in worse financial state than last year.
One in five said their financial situation was "much worse".
Under 25s appeared to be weathering the financial storm better than the over 45s, according to the findings.
Nearly 60% of 45 to 54-year-olds said they believed they were in a worse financial state than last year but this figure dropped to 41% for 18 to 24-year-olds.
The study found evidence of a North-South divide with nearly 60% of people from the North saying their finances have worsened in the past 12 months, with this falling to less than half, or 48%, of people from London.
The findings come after figures published by the MySupermarket Food Inflation Index showing the cost of all food and drink sold at Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's had increased by 5.9% over the last year.
The survey also found food bills for the average family had gone up by £1,040 a year in the last 12 months.
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