SPENDING ON food is often reduced to pay bills or avoid debt in poor households, a new study has found.
A four-year project, designed to improve diet in poorer parts of Armagh and south Tyrone, found one in five adults in the areas studied reported cutting their weekly food spending. Dr Kevin Balanda of the Institute of Public Health, which evaluated the project, said 800 people were surveyed in 2003 and again in 2007. "In many poorer households, food expenditure is the only discretionary budget item, and as we confirmed in our study, it is often reduced to avoid debt or to pay other household bills," he said.
Those who reported cutting spending on food recently said they were using the money to pay for rent, electricity and gas.
The project was funded by the Food Safety Promotion Board and the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland.
