Should healthy eating be a human right? A new study shows that poorer people in the UK have to rely on junk food and are deliberately targeted by the companies that sell it.
Junk food is half cost of a good diet
Should healthy eating be a human right? A new study shows that poorer people in the UK have to rely on junk food and are deliberately targeted by the companies that sell it.
Miriam examines the contents of her purse. As usual, there is not much in it. She would like to buy some fresh fruit and vegetables for her children's supper, but she realises that she cannot afford it. Instead, she will have to get them fast food again. What will it be: fried chicken, pizza or hamburgers?
Research just published by the Food Foundation shows that children from the poorest British families eat 20% less fruit and vegetables than those from the richest. They are almost twice as likely to be obeseFor adults, obesity is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more. A BMI of 25 or more is classed as overweight. and are much more prone to diabetesA medical condition causing there to be too much sugar in the blood. and tooth decay.
The foundation talks of "a tragic imbalance in the UK between the food that is marketed, available and affordable, and foods that are healthy and sustainable". This gap has grown in the past two years, with the price of healthy food increasing at twice the rate of unhealthy.
"Not only can lack of nutritionThe process of taking food into the body that you need to live and grow. lead to serious health conditions," says the foundation's Anna Taylor, "it can also lead to children being unable to concentrate in school... entrenching inequalities from a young age."1
To follow a government-recommended diet, the poorest families would have to spend 45% of their disposable incomeThe money someone has left after paying taxes. . If they have a lot of children, it could be as much as 70%.
To make things worse, food and drink companies are targeting the poorest people with their unhealthiest products. Over 30% of their advertising is for sweets, snacks, puddings and soft drinks, while just 2% is for fruit and vegetables. And 80% of billboards in England and Wales are in poorer areas.2
A report by the British Medical Journal also found that companies such as Kellogg's and Greggs have been influencing what is eaten at school breakfast clubs. They are accused of encouraging children's appetites for sugary cereals and cakes.
In England as a whole, a quarter of the places to buy food are fast-food outlets. In the most deprived areas, a third of them are. England's chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, refers to these areas as "food deserts" which "set children and adults up to live a shorter and unhealthier life".
Another recent survey3 estimates that diseases caused by unhealthy food cost Britain £286bn a year. The direct cost to the government is made up of £67.5bn for the NHSThe National Health Service, the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK. The NHS was founded in 1948., £14.3bn for social care and £10.1bn for benefit payments. On top of that there is the loss of productivity because people are too sick to work (£116.4bn) and "human costs" such as early death and pain (£60bn).
In response, the government has said it will ban junk food ads on TV before 9pm and sales of energy drinks to people under 16. Local authorities have been told to refuse planning permission for new fast-food outlets close to schools or where the number of takeaways "is having an adverse impact on local health".
This follows the revelation last December that KFC had challenged plans by 43 local authorities to limit takeaways near schools.
Should healthy eating be a human right?
Yes: It is just as essential as clean water, clean air, the NHS and free education - if not more so. And it would save health and welfare services so much money that they would no longer have to struggle.
No: The idea is totally impractical. For millions of people around the world, just getting enough food to survive is a daily battle. Making it healthier is an unaffordable luxury.
Or... Buying good food is only part of the equation - people need to know how to prepare it properly as well. Cookery lessons should be a compulsory part of every school curriculum.
Obese - For adults, obesity is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more. A BMI of 25 or more is classed as overweight.
Diabetes - A medical condition causing there to be too much sugar in the blood.
Nutrition - The process of taking food into the body that you need to live and grow.
Disposable income - The money someone has left after paying taxes.
NHS - The National Health Service, the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK. The NHS was founded in 1948.
Junk food is half cost of a good diet

Glossary
Obese - For adults, obesity is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more. A BMI of 25 or more is classed as overweight.
Diabetes - A medical condition causing there to be too much sugar in the blood.
Nutrition - The process of taking food into the body that you need to live and grow.
Disposable income - The money someone has left after paying taxes.
NHS - The National Health Service, the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK. The NHS was founded in 1948.