Dietary inequalities worsened in the UK over last two years as healthier foods grew more expensive at twice the rate of less healthy options, with healthier foods costing more than twice as much per calorie as less healthy foods. 

These are among the headline finding of latest research by The Food Foundation, which today publishes its annual Broken Plate report. The report, funded by The Nuffield Foundation, looks into how the food system impacts citizens and the actions is said are needed from policymakers to ensure healthy and sustainable food is available and affordable for everyone.

The report found that:

• Healthier foods are more than twice as expensive per calorie as less healthy foods, with healthier food increasing in price at twice the rate in the past two years.

• The most deprived fifth of the population would need to spend 45% of their disposable income on food to afford the government-recommended healthy diet, rising to 70% for households with children. The overall figure has decreased from the peak of the cost-of-living crisis (50% in 2021-22) but remains higher than the previous year’s figure (43% in 2020-21)

• Over a third (37%) of supermarket promotions on food and non-alcoholic drinks are for unhealthy items

• A quarter (26%) of places to buy food in England are fast-food outlets, rising to nearly 1 in 3 in the most deprived fifth of areas

• Over a third (36%) of food and soft drink advertising spend is on confectionary, snacks, deserts and soft drinks, compared to just 2% for fruit and veg, and has increased (up from 33% in 2022)

The report brings together data from a range of sources and reveals a food system that has health inequalities built into it.

The Food Foundation says that in the UK healthier food is now more expensive and less available to those on lower incomes, with the situation having got worse rather than better in the last couple of years across several key metrics.

The report also found that the food environment is having a negative impact on health outcomes, with children from deprived backgrounds suffering the most.

While children across all income groups are consuming significantly less healthy foods, and significantly more unhealthy foods than recommended for good health, children from the most deprived income quintile consume 20% less fruit and vegetables than the least deprived income quintile (2.1 portions/day compared to 2.6 portions/day respectively).

Children in the most deprived fifth of the population were further found to be nearly twice as likely to be living with obesity as those in the least deprived fifth by their first year of school.

Deprived groups are much more likely to be affected by type 2 diabetes, and, as a result, people with diabetes in the most deprived quintile were almost three times more likely to experience a lower-limb amputation than the least deprived quintile in 2022.

Similarly, children in their last year of primary school in the most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to have experienced tooth decay in their adult teeth (23%) compared to those in the least deprived areas (10%).

Anna Taylor, executive director of The Food Foundation, said: “The Broken Plate report sadly shows that our food system is failing to provide large swathes of the population with the basic nutrition needed for them to stay healthy and thrive.

“There is a tragic imbalance in the UK between the food that is marketed, available and affordable, and foods that are healthy and sustainable.

“Often it is the most vulnerable children in our society who suffer the worst consequences of this. Not only can lack of nutrition lead to serious health conditions, it can also lead to children being unable to concentrate in school and have lasting negative impact on mental health, entrenching inequalities from a young age.

Henry Dimbleby, the former government food tsar and author of the last National Food Strategy, said: “This report couldn’t come at a more critical moment.

“As the government rolls out its new food strategy, addressing the incentives that drive the sale and aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods must be a top priority. The human and economic toll is too great to ignore any longer.”