Healthy diet unaffordable for 3.7 million children, study finds

A report published by the think-tank The Food Foundation calculated the bottom 20 per cent of families would have to spend 42 per cent of their income, after housing costs, on food in order to eat the government's recommended diet set out in the Eatwell Guide.

Published by Public Health England (PHE), the guide suggests a balanced diet would cost £41.93 a week for an adult.

The Food Foundation used this data to estimate that a family of four - two adults and two children aged 10 and 15 - would need to spend £103.17 a week to follow the Eatwell Guide - a total of £5,364 a year. The poorest 20 per cent of families, containing 3.7 million children, have household incomes of less than £15,860 a year.

The richest 50 per cent of households need to spend just over a 10th (12 per cent) of disposable income after housing costs to eat a healthy diet.

The foundation said the unaffordability of a healthy diet for low-income households is highlighted by higher rates of childhood obesity in deprived areas of the country, with more than a quarter (26 per cent) of year 6 children in the most deprived areas of England being obese, contrasted with obesity affecting just 11 per cent of children of the same age in England's richest communities.