Healthy eating is not expensive
With the growing issue of obesity, as well as the increase in food prices, there is a debate as to whether poor food choices are being made because eating healthy is expensive.
According to Savvas Kyriakides, manager of a local supermarket, fruits and vegetables are good for one’s health, but the price of fresh produce isn’t nearly as good for your budget.
“To eat healthy is going to cost you more. So people want to eat healthy but they just can’t afford it,” he says.
“You can buy frozen vegetables, but they just don’t taste as good as the fresh products,” he adds.
Savvas says obesity is a growing problem in the country because people are looking for easier, cheaper alternatives to cooking, which are less healthy.
“People have busy lifestyles, they don’t have the time and energy to stand in the kitchen and chop vegetables, so they’d rather pop something in the microwave or get a take-away,” he says.
On conducting research at the above mentioned supermarket, the Advertiser found that chocolates and sweets, which were healthier and suitable for a diabetic diet (packing less kilojoules and sugar) were, however, double in price compared to normal candy.
Product brands that were specifically designed for people watching their weight, and which featured a control on gluten for example, were very expensive, compared to normal brands.
The price of normal un-sliced bread cost between R5 and R7, normal white and brown bread cost between R8.99 and R10, while Low GI was R13. Other healthier bread types cost R26 and more.
Xane Latz (15) for example stays away from sweets, and drinks lots of water to stay healthy.
“All food is expensive, and not just healthy foods,” she says.
Markus Middlenas says he is just lazy to cook healthy food, and it has nothing to do with the price.
“I sometimes knock off late and just get takeaways, it’s more convenient,” he says.
Fifty-two-year-old Peterson Mahlangu, who says there’s a misconception on healthy eating.
“It’s affordable. Healthy eating is not what people make it out to be, it is about controlling how and when you eat, which ensures a healthy lifestyle,” he says.
Peterson says choosing to eat cereal for breakfast instead of mielie meal (pap) and meat is cheaper and healthier.
“Water is also not expensive; you can choose not to drink a fizzy drink and have water instead, which is healthier and cheaper,” he says.
Dietician Diline Dewet from Sunward Park Hospital reiterates this, and says eating on the run, instant meals and take-aways cost more than maintaining a healthy diet.
“An apple is cheaper than a chocolate, and bran flakes cost the same as cornflakes; people need to go back to the basics instead of mistaking healthy eating for gourmet fancy foods,” she says.
Diline says healthy eating is about preparation, portions, eating regularly, using low fat, low sugar, low salt and low GI.
She also emphasises that people should not only want to buy products that claim to be low in fat and calories, but should actually read ingredients and compare product claims.
“People should eat to live and not live to eat. A healthy diet includes all three food groups namely protein, carbohydrates and vegetables,” she adds.
Diline blames the Internet, advertising, wrong labeling, and the transferring of wrong information by people for misconceptions on healthy eating.
“Commercial diets make people think that carbohydrates are unhealthy, and the reality is that your body needs everything you’ve been told is bad for you in moderation,” she says.
Diline advises people to change their eating habits and their lifestyle and not look for quick-fix solutions.
“Low fat, fat-free and full cream are all the same price, and have the same amount of calcium, but only kids under the age of two years should drink full cream,” she says.
“People should conduct research and consult a dietician to get correct information on what should go into their bodies – healthy eating is not expensive,” she adds.
