--- title: Only a Third of People Consider Their Diet Healthy, Study Says description: Only 34% of people involved in a recent U.K. study say they consider themselves to have a healthy diet canonical: https://time.com/3934342/diet-healthy-eating/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-26T14:54:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:48.986Z article:section: Health og:title: Only a Third of People Consider Their Diet Healthy, Study Says og:description: Only 34% of people involved in a recent U.K. study say they consider themselves to have a healthy diet og:url: https://time.com/3934342/diet-healthy-eating/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a11489099a5a6c3/69885833e53abadd834de565/veggies.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Fresh Vegetables og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Only a Third of People Consider Their Diet Healthy, Study Says twitter:description: Only 34% of people involved in a recent U.K. study say they consider themselves to have a healthy diet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a11489099a5a6c3/69885833e53abadd834de565/veggies.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Only a Third of People Consider Their Diet Healthy, Study Says ## Video: Should I Eat Pizza? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat Pizza?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NvpgAWn5.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-02-12. You might be surprised that four out of five health experts give pizza the thumbs up. But don’t be fooled: these are not greasy thumbs._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 26, 2015 2:54 PM UTC  Fresh Vegetable On Vintage Garden Table Fresh Vegetable On Vintage Garden TableGetty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 26, 2015 2:54 PM UTC In a [recent U.K. study](http://futurethinking.com/consumers-are-confusing-sugar-and-fat/), only 34% of people said they consider themselves to have a healthy diet. Although most people in the study didn’t view their diets as healthy, that figure is still 5% more than last year, according to the 2015 Grocery Eye survey, which was released this month by the market research company Future Thinking. The findings are based on data from more than 2,000 consumers. Even though there’s been more attention paid to the high sugar content in foods and drinks, 56% of people who answered the survey said they haven’t changed their eating habits because of that information. The research also revealed that when consumers want to purchase healthy food, a third of them will look at the fat content. 22% look at the amount of sugar and 20% use calories as a reference. Cost may also be a factor when it comes to adopting healthy eating habits, the research suggests. The survey shows that 65% of the consumers believed that eating healthy was more expensive than eating unhealthy and that 52% reported they would eat healthier if it was more affordable. “There continues to be confusion as to what being healthy really means and what foods you should and shouldn’t eat,” Claudia Strauss, Managing Director of FMCG and Shopper at Future Thinking said in a statement. “Consumers are bombarded with extensive and often contradictory messages which are leaving them feeling unengaged and helpless. It is clear that sugar is the villain of the piece and will likely remain so for a while but quite how to respond to this news is not yet clear for consumers.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3934342/diet-healthy-eating/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3934342/diet-healthy-eating/"},"headline":"Only a Third of People Consider Their Diet Healthy, Study Says","datePublished":"2015-06-26T14:54:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:48.986Z","description":"Still, the number is up from last year","url":"https://time.com/3934342/diet-healthy-eating/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","diet","Sugar","Healthy Eating"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a11489099a5a6c3/69885833e53abadd834de565/veggies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a11489099a5a6c3/69885833e53abadd834de565/veggies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fresh Vegetables","caption":"Fresh Vegetables","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3934342/diet-healthy-eating/","name":"Only a Third of People Consider Their Diet Healthy, Study Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Should I Eat Pizza?","description":"You might be surprised that four out of five health experts give pizza the thumbs up. 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