Health food expensive - survey

Johannesburg - While 98% of South Africans who took part in a new study do not think healthy food is boring, 62% believe it is more expensive.

The survey of Discovery Health members confirmed that people want to eat and live healthier, but see price as an obstacle, said Craig Nossel, head of Vitality Wellness .

This is not just a perception; price is a real barrier when buying food, he added.

Data from Statistics SA show fish prices have rocketed by 19% in the year to January 2009, while meat prices rose by only 7.9%.

In the same period, vegetable prices jumped by 19%.

According to Nossel, maize prices almost tripled from January 2005 to June 2008. Similarly, wheat prices increased 127%, soybean oil went up by 192% and rice prices rose by 170%.

"This has resulted in a growing international trend whereby fast, unhealthy food continues to take off due to both convenience and cost.

"Part of the problem is that many pre-prepared and processed foods contain less healthy ingredients and often have high sugar, salt and fat content versus natural ingredients that we use when preparing food at home."

With increasingly busy lifestyles, Nossel says South Africans look for convenience. Fast foods is generally inexpensive.

According to a demographic and health survey conducted in 1998 and used by the department of health, 29% of men and 55% of women are overweight while 9% of men and 29% of women are obese.

However, the study showed that people are recognising the importance of eating a healthy diet and that there are many wholesome and exciting eating options available, said Nossel.

He said there is fair amount of information on healthy eating in the media these days, but although people understand the concept, they do not necessarily follow the principles.

- Fin24.com