Difficulties in trying to eat healthier: descriptive analysis of perceived barriers for healthy eating

Abstract

Objective: To determine the factors which are perceived to be important barriers to healthy eating among European adults.

Design: A cross sectional study in which quota-controlled, nationally-representative samples of approximately 1000 adults from each country completed a face-to-face interview-assisted questionnaire.

Setting: The survey was conducted between October 1995 and February 1996 in the 15 member states of the European Union.

Subjects: 14,331 subjects (aged 15 y upwards) completed the questionnaire. Data were weighted by population size for each country and by sex, age and regional distribution within each member state.

Results: The study demonstrates a great variability in the perceived barriers to healthy eating between different EU countries. Lack of time was the most frequently mentioned difficulty among EU subjects for not following nutritional advice (24% of total EU sample). This barrier was frequently reported by the younger and the higher education people. Other frequently reported barriers were giving up favourite foods (23%) and willpower (18%). Thus healthy diets do not appear to be viewed as an easy or attractive alternative to current diets. There was wide geographical variation in the number of subjects mentioning price as an important barrier to healthy eating (15% in overall EU sample) ranging from less than 10% in Germany and Italy to 23% in the UK and 24% in Luxembourg.