What is it about?
Over a period of 15 years, a representative sample of the Swiss adult population reported very high rates of barriers to healthy eating including the price, the taste, and the availability of healthy foods, as well as the lack of time to buy and prepare them, and the lack of willpower. Although the Swiss population has experienced improved education and increased wealth at the population level, these barriers appear to persist over time. The same persistent trend is observed among men and women across all levels of age, education, and income.
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Why is it important?
This is the first paper to report trends in barriers to healthy eating in a large representative population sample.
Perspectives
Despite widespread nutritional and dietary guidelines as well as readily available information linking diet to health outcomes, most people continue to follow diets that are suboptimal. With the increasing rates of obesity and chronic diseases, it becomes imperative to continue studying why people fail to eat healthy. In the case of the Swiss population, high income and standards of living do not translate to healthy diets, as only a minority of the population adheres to the dietary guidelines. The persistent barriers to healthy eating are complex and would require changes and improvements in several sectors at the population level.
Carlos de Mestral
Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Fifteen-year trends in the prevalence of barriers to healthy eating in a high-income country, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2017, American Society for Nutrition,
DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.116.143719.
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