Healthy eating
Concerns
There was a significant decline this wave in those who were very concerned about their salt intake. Calories were significantly more likely than any other food element to be rated as "not at all concerning”. Concern about the amount of sugar, fat, and saturated fat in food remained consistently high across all waves of the research.
| Item | A lot | A little | Not at all |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt | 30% (W21 35%) | 52% (W21 46%) | 19% (W21 19%) |
| Sugar | 39% (W21 39%) | 45% (W21 46%) | 15% (W21 15%) |
| Fat | 32% (W20 33%) | 49% (W20 49%) | 18% (W21 19%) |
| Saturated fat | 36% (W21 39%) | 47% (W21 44%) | 17% (W21 17%) |
| Calories | 29% | 46% | 25% |
Ethnic minority respondents and females were more concerned about sugar.
Fat was of more concern to:
- those aged 65+
- females
- those with allergy/intolerance
- those who heard of FSS
- those who found it difficult to eat healthily
Saturated fat was of more concern to:
- those aged 65+
- females
- those with an allergy or food intolerance
- those who found it difficult to eat healthily
Calories were of more concern to:
- females
- those who found it difficult to eat healthily
Calorie and nutritional information
Similar to W21, most consumers believe that nutritional and calorie information should be available on request when eating out. Around two fifths said they would request it if each were available. This is in line with W21.
| Type of information | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 | W20 July 2025 | W19 December 2024 | W18 July 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calorie | 71% | 68% | 68% | 67% | 67% |
| Nutrition | 70% | 70% | 70% | 68% | 71% |
- 40% said they would request calorie information if it was available (W21: 40%)
- 41% said they would request nutrition information if it was available (W21: 45%)
Healthy eating statements
When asked, most consumers agreed that:
- there aren’t enough promotions on healthy foods
- government should take stronger action to help people be a healthy weight
- there are too many promotional offers on foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS)
- promotional offers on foods HFSS should be banned
These results are similar to previous waves.
| Statement | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| There aren’t enough promotions on healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables | 81% | 81% |
| *Government should take stronger action to help people be a healthy weight | 73% | 70% |
| There are too many promotional offers on foods high in fat, salt and sugar | 63% | 67% |
| Promotional offers on foods high in fat, sugar and salt should be banned | 57% | 55% |
Eating a healthy balanced diet
Three fifths claimed to find it hard to eat a balanced diet, which is a decrease from W21. Similar to the last wave the main reasons were due to not being able to afford to eat healthily and the availability of unhealthy foods.
| Do you find it difficult to eat a healthy balanced diet? | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 | W20 July 2025 | W19 December 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes always/sometimes | 60% | 65% | 61% | 61% |
The following sub-groups were all more likely to find it difficult to eat a healthy diet than others:
- those who are working
- demographic groups: white, C1C2DE
- those with an allergy or food intolerance
- diagnosed with illnesses
- receive help with shopping
- worry about affording food
The most popular reason given for finding it difficult, was that they couldn't afford to and there's more unhealthy than healthy food to choose from.
| Statement | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 | W20 July 2025 | W19 December 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I can’t afford to | 37% | 35% | 36% | 31% |
| There’s more unhealthy than healthy foods to choose from | 34% | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| I don’t have time to prepare healthy meals and snacks from scratch | 29% | 26% | 28% | 29% |
| It can be difficult to understand what is and isn’t classed as ‘healthy’ | 29% | 23% | 25% | 28% |
| Promotions and marketing make unhealthy foods more appealing** | 25% | - | - | - |
I don’t have enough information about eating a healthy balanced diet**
| 13% | - | - | - |
| I don’t know how to prepare healthy meals and snacks from scratch | 11% | 8% | 10% | 10% |
| I don’t understand what a healthy balanced diet looks like | 8% | 8% | 9% | 10% |
| Other | 8% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
Eating out
67% said they had a takeaway/home delivery in the previous month, and this is consistent with W21 (67%).
| Frequency | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 | W20 July 2025 | W19 December 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| More than once a week | 8% | 8% | 9% | 5% |
| Once a week | 16% | 17% | 16% | 16% |
| 2-3 times per month | 18% | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| Once a month | 24% | 24% | 25% | 22% |
| Haven't purchased any in the past month | 33% | 33% | 32% | 39% |
82% bought food to eat out of the home (for example, snacks or coffees on the go, as well as breakfast, lunch or dinner) in the previous month, which is consistent with W21. Frequency was very mixed but consistent with last wave.
| Frequency | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 | W20 July 2025 | W19 December 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily / more | 6% | 5% | 4% | 3% |
| More than once a week | 23% | 23% | 22% | 21% |
| Once a week | 20% | 19% | 20% | 19% |
| 2-3 times per month | 19% | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| Once a month | 14% | 17% | 15% | 16% |
| Haven't purchased | 18% | 18% | 18% | 23% |
In this wave of research, there was an increase in those who would like access to information to help make healthy choices when ordering in food. Otherwise results closely match W21.
| Statement | W22 July 2026 | W21 December 2025 | W20 July 2025 | W19 December 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| When eating out or ordering in, it would help me make healthier choices if I was able to access nutrition/calorie information of menu items | 65% | 60% | 61% | 61% |
| I don’t want to think about healthy choices when I eat out or order in | 62% | 62% | 62% | 62% |
| There are not enough healthy choices when eating out or ordering in | 56% | 55% | 59% | 60% |
| Promotions and special offers encourage me to buy more than intended when eating out or ordering in | 53% | 53% | 53% | 51% |
| I find it difficult to know which options are healthy and which are not healthy when eating out or ordering in | 49% | 48% | 51% | 50% |
| Portion sizes of food when eating out or ordering in are too big | 46% | 46% | 44% | 46% |
Vitamin D
Just over half were aware of the advice to take vitamin D supplement. Just under a third said they take a supplement all year round and the same proportion were not aware but would consider in the future.
| Aware | W22 July 2026 |
|---|---|
| Yes, and I take a supplement all year round | 30% |
| Yes, and I take a supplement between October and March | 13% |
| Yes, but I don’t take a supplement | 13% |
| No, but I will consider one in the future | 30% |
| No, and I don’t plan to take one | 14% |
| Don’t know | 1% |
Those who were more likely to be aware and take a vitamin D Supplement:
- socio economic group ABC1
- those working
- ethnic minorities
- females
- those with a food allergy or intolerance
- do not worry about affording food