As Britain continues to suffer from a slump in real wages, the population is moving away from the consumption of fresh produce and is instead resorting to fatty, sugary or processed foods, according to new research released Monday.
The reports, titled ‘Food
Expenditure and Nutritional Quality over the Great
Recession’ and ‘Gluttony in
England? Long-term Change in Diet,’ were published by
the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). They outline how
the rising costs of healthy foods, combined with rising
unemployment rates, are pushing people towards the increasing
consumption of produce high in fats and sugar - despite a
somewhat puzzling decrease in the total number of calories being
consumed.
“We find that, on average, across a number of measures, the
nutritional quality of foods purchased declined from 2005-07 to
2010-12,” the IFS stated.
UK residents are spending approximately 8.5 percent less on food
in real terms than they were prior to the recession. The economy
is starting to display signs of recovery but real wages remain
low, with prices still rising more quickly than wages, according
to September figures from the Office for National Statistics.
“Our estimates suggest that calories purchased for eating
outside the home and in soft drinks, confectionery and snacks
have increased for all household types,” said the study.
In August, House of Commons Library statistics illustrated that
there has been a 5.5 percent drop in real wages since 2010,
meaning that only Greek, Portuguese, and Dutch wages saw a deeper
deterioration over the same time period.
September’s Consumer Price Index data illustrated that inflation
has remained at 2.7 percent – the same figure as August, and
reflective of the 12 month rate from September 2012.
“This means that a basket of goods and services that cost
£100.00 in September 2012 would have cost £102.70 in September
2013,” the Office of National Statistics said in a statement
released alongside the figures.
However, the IFS study found that “there has been a fairly
substantial decline in calories purchased,” identifying the
pattern as being across-the-board for all types of households.
Families with children saw the biggest increase in consumption of
sugary foods, while older generations (in the 50+ bracket) saw a
higher consumption of food high in saturated fat.
“Pensioner households, single-parent households and households
with young children saw the largest declines in the nutritional
quality of the foods purchased between 2005–07 and 2010–12.”
the IFS said.
According to 2011 health data from the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) cited by the report, over 25
percent of UK adults are obese and 70 percent are overweight.
“The average weight of an adult male has increased by 8.6
kilograms and the weight of an adult female by 7.9 kilograms over
the same period [1980-2009],” the study found.
According to a YouGov survey also released on Monday, 25 percent
of British people are eating less meat this year than in 2012.
Two percent said they were eating more, while 17 percent said
they do not eat any meat at all.
Britain’s Conservative government has fallen under sharp
criticism since the beginning of its term in office, after a
stream of austerity measures were introduced. The sweeping
measures – the most severe since World War II - were unveiled in
October 2010, slashing public sector jobs and benefits, and
cutting budgets.
It emerged towards the end of October that over five million
people are paid less than the living wage in the UK – although
some measures are being taken to remedy that situation. A rise of
some £400 per year for around 30,000 low-paid workers was
announced on Monday.
“This is an emergency about more than statistics. It is about
real people who work hard — full and part time, often in multiple
jobs or on zero-hours contracts — and can’t make ends meet,”
opposition leader Ed Miliband wrote in the Evening Standard on
Monday.
People have been attempting to cope with the need to economize by
buying less food and selecting cheaper products, which often have
lower nutritional content. However, the study also recognizes
that the English consume between 15 and 30 percent fewer calories
in total than in 1980, and suggests that increasing obesity rates
could be attributed to a more sedentary lifestyle.