The cost of nutritious food and the lack of access to it is a major concern for American consumers. This is evident from a new national survey of public opinion about food and nutrition, conducted by Zogby Analytics on behalf of Research!America and the American Heart Association. Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) respondents recognize healthy eating habits as an important factor in improving a person's chances of living a long and healthy life. Yet more than half (53%) say the United States is not making enough progress to make nutritious food more accessible and affordable.
The survey results are included in an expert analysis of American health and the future of food, which outlines major challenges to improving nutritional security caused by systemic factors that can make it more difficult for people to access healthy food. The report, released today by Deloitte, the American Heart Association and Research!America, describes the pressing challenges in creating a food system that effectively integrates nutritious food into health care for the prevention, treatment and care of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.
These findings were announced at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, the birthplace exactly 100 years ago of the American Heart Association, the world's largest public health organization focused on heart and brain health for all.
“Efforts led by the American Heart Association have cut the death rate from heart disease in half over the past hundred years, but as we look into our second century of existence, the trends are ominous,” said Nancy Brown, CEO from the American Heart Association. “We are committed to averting a crisis of unprecedented health and economic burdens from cardiovascular disease and obesity in the coming decades.”
According to grim projections published June 4 in the Association's leading peer-reviewed journal CirculationIf obesity is not addressed, it will be a major cause of the sharp increase in cardiovascular diseases expected by 2050:
- More than six in ten (61%) U.S. adults are expected to have some form of cardiovascular disease by 2050 – an increase from about half of all adults today.
- The number of obesity cases will increase by almost 40% in adults. from 43.6% to 60.6%, and by more than 60% in children, from 20.6% to 33% in 2050.
- The greatest growth in obesity prevalence is expected among adults aged 20-44 and 45-64 years old. In children, a steep growth in obesity is expected in all age groups.
- More than 150 million people (nearly half the national population) will have a poor diet – the most common factor influencing health problems such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.
According to the public opinion survey, obesity is also a major factor in the public's perception of health in the US. A whopping 94% of respondents believe obesity is a somewhat (41%) or very (53%) serious concern.
More than 3 in 4 respondents (77%) said they would like to eat healthier. However, respondents reported significant barriers to achieving that, including:
- The costs of healthy food (60%): Many find it challenging to buy nutritious options.
- Stress eating (42%): Emotional factors play a role in food choices.
- Lack of preparation time (33%): Busy schedules hinder meal preparation.
- Lack of knowledge (32%): Understanding which foods are healthy and how to prepare them remains a challenge.
“The results show significant differences in how historically underrepresented groups rank barriers to healthy eating,” said Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America, a nonprofit medical and research advocacy organization. “Nearly 7 in 10 Asian American (66%) and Hispanic (68%) respondents said the cost of healthy food was their biggest barrier to healthy eating. Black respondents were more likely to cite gaps in knowledge about healthy eating (38%) and difficulties accessing stores with a selection of nutrient-dense foods (25%) as barriers to healthy eating.”
The US Health and the Future of Food report points to food and nutrition insecurity (the inability to consume enough calories and nutrients to support health), ultra-processed foods and the lack of resilient and adaptive food and agriculture systems as major causes of poor diets. As cited in the report, approximately 1 in 7 people in the US faced food insecurity in 2022 – a total of 44 million people, including 13 million children, which is the highest rate since 2014.
“The impact of food insecurity is felt disproportionately in rural (90%) and southern (80%) U.S. counties, but food and nutrition insecurity exists across the U.S.,” said James Cascone, partner of Deloitte Sustainability, Climate & Equity Strategic Growth. and the Future of Food leader for America. “Factors such as consumer preferences, cultural norms and the marketing of unhealthy foods, exacerbated by social inequality and food and nutrition insecurity, hinder access to healthy foods. The resulting decline in diet quality increases the risk of chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease , considerable.”
Nearly 60% of the American diet consists of ultra-processed foods that are high in refined grains, calories, sodium, sugar and saturated fat, and are more often chosen by consumers over nutritionally healthier alternatives, according to statistics cited in the report. The report calls on stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, the food industry, policymakers and others, to drive innovations that enable food systems to improve health outcomes.
“A healthy, nutritious diet not only leads to better overall health – it can be a crucial tool in treating, managing and preventing chronic disease,” says Kevin Volpp, M.D., Ph.D., American Heart Association volunteer and scientific lead of the Association's Food is Medicine initiative, Health Care by Food™, and founding director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School. “Cross-sector collaboration and research-backed innovation in public and private sector programs are needed to stem the combined tide of obesity and nutritional insecurity that threatens the health of millions of people in the U.S. now and for decades to come.”
The Association's Health Care by Food™ initiative invests in research, advocacy and education to integrate cost-effective approaches to nutrition and medicine into the healthcare system. Initial pilot studies, funded by the association, are underway to help strengthen the evidence base by demonstrating the effectiveness of healthy nutrition interventions implemented within the healthcare system.
The association also promotes a better understanding of the components of specific foods and their role in human health, in collaboration with the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI). PTFI was founded five years ago by multiple academic disciplines together with the technology, philanthropy and nonprofit sectors to better understand food biodiversity by building a unique database of the global food supply to inform nutritional recommendations and agricultural practices to improve both human and improve planetary health.
Brown noted that additional health and nutrition solutions are needed to prevent the expected increase in the incidence and costs of cardiovascular disease.
“We must take bold steps to change the troubling trajectory of cardiovascular disease. That's why the American Heart Association will soon launch a new, longitudinal direct-to-patient registry of individuals living with overweight and obesity and those prescribed weight management treatment. said Bruin. “Building on our decades of experience with patient registries and inspired by the Framingham Heart Study, this groundbreaking registry will yield groundbreaking research to improve understanding of the causes and treatments of obesity, and how obesity is managed by healthcare professionals .”
The new initiative will help pave the way to fundamentally shape public health guidelines related to nutrition and obesity. Brown called on others to embrace these types of innovative and comprehensive approaches to improving the nation's health.
“Collaborative efforts between public and private entities are imperative to advance health and nutrition approaches that could shape the course of public health into the next century,” Brown said. “We invite stakeholders from across the health and nutrition sectors to join us in this fight to ensure that everyone has access to nutritious foods that lead to better health.”
