#alternate RSS Feed for News articles - Telegraph.co.uk RSS Feed for Education articles - Telegraph.co.uk RSS Feed for Health articles - Telegraph.co.uk < img alt="dcsimg" id="dcsimg" width="1" height="1" src="//webtrends.telegraph.co.uk/dcsshgbi400000gscd62rrg43_4o2o/njs.gif ?MLC=&Channel=&Genre=&Category=&Content_Type=&Level=&source=&dcsuri=/no javascript&WT.js=No&WT.tv=10.2.10&dcssip=www.telegraph.co.uk"/> [p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1] Accessibility links * Skip to article * Skip to navigation [telegraph_print_190.gif] Advertisement Telegraph.co.uk ___________________ Submit Search - enhanced by OpenText Thursday 22 January 2015 * Home * Video * News * World * Sport * Finance * Comment * Culture * Travel * Life * Women * Fashion * Luxury * Tech * Cars * Politics * Investigations * Obits * Education * Science * Earth * Health * Defence * Scotland * Royal * Celebrities * Weird 1. Home» 2. News Healthy diet costs three times that of junk food Healthy foods cost three times as much as unhealthy foods, according to a Cambridge University study showing a widening gap in the costs between junk foods and fine fare Doughnut 1,000 calories made up from healthy items cost an average of £7.49 in 2012 while the same calorie intake from less healthy items, including doughnuts, could be purchased for an average of £2.50 Photo: Alamy Laura Donnelly By Laura Donnelly, Health Editor 7:00PM BST 08 Oct 2014 Follow Eating healthily costs three times as much as consuming unhealthy food - and the price gap is widening, according to a study by Cambridge University. Researchers examined almost 100 popular items of food, which is defined under Government criteria as healthy or not. They found that 1,000 calories made up from healthy items, such as lean salmon, yoghurts and tomatoes, cost an average of £7.49 in 2012. The same calorie intake from less healthy items, such as pizza, beef burgers, and doughnuts, could be purchased for an average of £2.50. The gap between the two 1,000 calorie baskets is now £4.99, the research found, when ten years ago it was £3.88. Related Articles * Bristol cafe serves up real junk food from skips 09 Oct 2014 * The worst teeth in England: first ever map of toddlers' dental health reveals 'shameful' variations 30 Sep 2014 * Quiz: How expensive is your healthy food? 08 Oct 2014 The average increase of healthy foods rose by £1.84 per 1,000 calories over the decade, while unhealthy food rose by 73 pence for the same energy intake, the study found. Researchers from the University’s Centre for Diet and Activity Research, called on Government to do more to bring down the costs of healthy food. Lead author Nicholas Jones said: "Food poverty and the rise of food banks have recently been an issue of public concern in the UK, but as well as making sure people don't go hungry it is also important that a healthy diet is affordable.” "The increase in the price difference between more and less healthy foods is a factor that may contribute towards growing food insecurity, increasing health inequalities, and a deterioration in the health of the population." Researchers tracked the price of 94 key food and drink items from 2002 to 2012. They found that more healthy foods were consistently more expensive than less healthy foods, with absolute costs increasing more than those of unhealthy fare. In 2002, 1,000 kcal of healthy food - as defined by government criteria - cost an average of £5.65, compared to purchasing the same quantity of energy from less healthy food at £1.77. By 2012 this cost had changed to £7.49 for more healthy and £2.50 for less healthy foods. While less healthy foods had a slightly greater price rise in percentage terms, the absolute increase was significantly more for more healthy foods - a total average increase of £1.84 per 1,000 kcal for more healthy food across the decade, compared 73 pence for less healthy food. The cost of diet-related ill health to the National Health Service has been estimated to be £5.8 billion annually. Mr Jones said: "The finding shows that there could well be merit in public health bodies monitoring food prices in relation to nutrient content, hopefully taking into account a broader selection of foods than we were able to in this study." Senior author Pablo Monsivais said Government policies needed to do more to address high prices of healthier foods, and subsidise some healthy foods for those on low incomes. The food and beverages studied were those which remained in the "basket" used by the Office of National Statistics' Consumer Price Index for the entire 10 years. Dr John Middleton, from the Faculty of Public Health, said rising prices of healthy foods were pushing too many families towards unhealthy fare and contributing to worrying increases in obesity and diabetes. “The cost of healthy options is one of many reasons why we have food poverty in the UK,” he said. “This is not just about individual choice. Blaming individuals for not knowing how to cook well on a low budget so they don’t fill up on cheap junk food won’t help.” He called on the government to set up an independent working group to monitor UK nutrition and hunger status. This will give us the independent and authoritative data to fully understand what is happening and what needs to be done to stop the scandal of food poverty. "When teachers report that school children are arriving at school unable to concentrate because they have not had breakfast, we have to take action to give our children the best start in life," he said. Healthy foods 2002 2012 (£/1000kcal): Tomatoes £9.53 £13.21 Vegetable burgers £2.17 £2.80 Semi-skimmed milk £1.07 £1.73 Canned tuna £3.22 £5.54 Yoghurt £14.09 £17.68 Salmon £4.11 £6.87 Lean beef mince £2.64 £4.52 Iceberg lettuce £11.36 £16.45 Cauliflower £6.89 £9.97 Canned soup £1.91 £3.42 Unhealthy foods 2002 2012 (£/1000kcal): Frozen pizza £2.10 £1.58 Beefburger £1.24 £2.01 Bacon £3.14 £4.15 Cola drink £2.61 £4.24 Doughnut £0.96 £0.98 Ice cream £1.50 £1.57 Box of chocolates £6.25 £4.68 Jar of jam £0.86 £0.99 Sponge cake £1.26 £1.21 Fizzy energy drink £4.09 £5.55 Prices are average prices from a range of products, using data from the Office for National Statistics’ basket of purchases. Foods are ranked as more healthy or less healthy, using Government criteria. 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