57% of women say food costs keeps them from eating healthy

Rebecca Prescott14 May 2012

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Women find many excuses not to eat healthy and many feel bad about it, but according to a new national poll, from the publisher of Consumer Reports, the cost of healthful foods is the top deterrent that keeps 57% of women from doing so.

The report also highlights common healthy-eating obstacles and ways to overcome them, and, outlines seven little tricks that can help you eat better.

Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart, said: "Eating healthy can be challenging for many women - especially when we are surrounded by temptations.

"It can be easy to make excuses, but if you know how to shop for the right foods, healthy eating can become a choice so easy that it becomes as automatic as reaching for the phone to order a pizza."

Additional findings from ShopSmart's poll about women's habits and feelings about healthy eating include:

  • The majority of women (88%) make excuses for not eating healthful foods, with cost (57%) being the most popular excuse.
  • Social temptations (47% of women) are one of the biggest barriers women face in eating healthy. 44% claim they are more likely to eat poorly when they are around others compared with 36% who tend to eat worse when they are alone.
  • Although half of women feel good about their eating habits, more than one-third (39%) feel they could be better and 7% feel really bad about their habits.
  • Overall, women attempt to eat healthy. Most women (73%) are looking at nutrition labels and more than half (53%) of women have tried to buy more healthful foods in the past year.
  • More than half (55%) of women have tried to get their family to eat healthier, however nearly one quarter (23%) have been unsuccessful in their attempts.
  • Dinner (37%) and breakfast (36%) finish equally as the healthiest meal women eat in a day; only 24% feel lunch is the healthiest meal they eat.

Cravings are another obstacle that can sideline healthy eating habits. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of women admit to having regular cravings of a particular food, with chocolate (43%) being the number one culprit.

45% of women actually crave healthy foods including 39% who regularly crave fruits and 34% who regularly crave salad or vegetables.

Source: ShopSmart

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