Are the rich enjoying a healthier or different diet to the poor in Great Britain? According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), poorer families have similar nutritional habits, access to food and cooking skills to the better off. The FSA also stressed that most people in the UK could do a lot better.

In a survey of 3,500 people on lower incomes over a 15-month period, the FSA found that poorer people do not eat significantly differently from the rest of the country. The majority of people on lower incomes shop in large supermarkets and have adequate facilities for storing food.

There had been concern that perhaps the diets of people on low incomes were extremely poor, compared to the rest of the population. The authors of the report were surprised to find no link between dietary patterns, cooking skills, food access and incomes.

It seems both the poor and the well off in the UK are not eating enough fruit and vegetables, oily fish, and are consuming too much saturated fat and sugar.

62% of men, 63% of women, 35% of boys and 34% of girls on lower incomes are either overweight or obese, the study found – not significantly different to overall national levels.

Rosemary Hignett, Head of Nutrition, Food Standards Agency said “The encouraging news from this research is that the gap between the diets of people on low incomes and those of the rest of the population is not as big as some feared. It is also positive that most people in this group are confident about their cooking skills, have reasonable kitchen facilities and access to large supermarkets. However, the bad news is that this group – like the general population – are not eating as healthily as they could be. Poor diets can lead to chronic disease, such as heart disease and cancer, and contribute to obesity, which is on the rise. Small changes to diet can make a big difference to health so we urge everyone to think about the food that they and their family are eating.”

The survey did find that levels of smoking and alcohol consumption were higher among lower income people, compared to the rest of the population. People on lower incomes tend to be slightly less physically active.

People on low income = The bottom 15% of the population in terms of material deprivation.

— Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey: Executive Summary (pdf 1MB)
— Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey: Volume 1 of the full report (pdf 654KB)
— Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey: Volume 2 of the full report (pdf 2MB)
— Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey: Volume 3 of the full report (pdf 3MB)

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today