Recent studies have shown that as a consumer we are more likely to choose the cheaper option when shopping for food. When shopping in your local supermarket you often find that there are always deals on frozen meals as opposed to deals on any of the fresh fruit and vegetables etc. You often find in the supermarkets a high calorie sandwich will cost £2 less than a salad box from the same section, this automatically attracts us to the cheaper option to save yourself a few pounds.
Poverty is one of the biggest causes of unhealthy eating in Britain. It is far cheaper to buy frozen, high calorie meals than to buy fresh food. It is often a large problem for families that simply cannot afford the healthier alternative. There are many local fruit & veg shops that are very cheap and affordable to a lot of families but for some it is not an option. Children are more likely to become obese at a young age if they are from a more deprived area as there parents simply cannot afford it.
They say unhealthy eating and obesity are directly linked from your parents. If you are fed high calorie meals along with your parents, then you are at a higher risk of developing obesity at an earlier stage in life. “The burden is falling hardest on those children from low-income backgrounds. Obesity rates are highest for children from the most deprived areas and this is getting worse.10Children aged 5 and from the poorest income groups are twice as likely to be obese compared to their most well off counterparts and by age 11 they are three times as likely”. (Gov Uk website, January 2017).
It is harder to get younger children to eat a balanced diet as they often wont eat fruit and vegetables and usually prefer a diet of processed foods. As a younger child I wasn't that fussy, I would refuse Brussel Sprouts at Christmas but I'm the same today. As a child I would eat almost anything and that's due to the fact my parents introduced these foods to me at an early age.
Do you try to buy a variety of foods or are you strictly healthy foods only in your house only?
RSS