Barriers to Eating Well

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Making healthy food choices is important to our well-being. The way we eat is a learned behavior impacted by finances, culture, tradition, and many other factors. But we can change our daily eating habits, and there  are numerous tips and resources that can help. Here are some suggestions: 

• Start with small changes: skip the red dyes and trans fats (found in processed foods), shop the perimeter of the store for fresh ingredients, and buy non-GMO organic when you can. Eat less fried foods and starchy foods and eliminate sugary sodas. 
• Add foods with antioxidants: berries, dark chocolate, coffee, tea, vegetables, avocados, nuts, and more. Add healthy fats, like salmon, sardines, extra virgin organic olive oil, or avocado oil for high heat cooking.
• Making small changes successfully builds confidence and behavioral control that improves attitude.
• Remember to be consistent with your small changes. It's important. 

Here are several solutions for gaining knowledge that can help us change our beliefs and eating habits:

• Mobile health apps can teach you to make informed food choices, and offer educational resources to encourage healthy food purchases and decrease food waste [1]. 
• Social media or other popular internet sources have new recipes and ideas for using a fruit or vegetable that is new to you. 
• Perceiving behavioral control, attitudes, and knowledge explains the majority of variance for intentionally consuming vegetables and fruits [2]. Therefore, fostering knowledge improves attitudes and perceptions about healthy eating. 

Groceries are expensive today, and many people feel they can not afford to eat healthy food. Here are suggestions to make healthy foods an affordable part of your daily life: 

• Buying healthy foods versus unhealthy foods is dictated by dietary patterns, affordability, and availability [3]. 
• Eating out is expensive, and the ingredients used are likely to be less healthy than foods that have been prepared at home. 
• Bring your own snacks and meals to work so that when your energy is low and you’re hungry you can reach for foods that are cost effective, nutritious, and don’t have ingredients you’re avoiding.
• Many foods can be purchased on sale or in bulk. 
• Be sure to eat what is in your pantry and freezer before buying more foods.
• Food security, or having enough healthy food to eat, is a big issue that impacts “...socioeconomic and racial and ethnic disparities in nutrition and chronic disease”[4]. These disparities need to be addressed by our communities, educators, policy makers, and others to help ensure that every person has the equal opportunity to eat well.  

A tip for parents:

• Eating habits are learned early in life so avoid rewarding your children with food. Research shows a strong correlation for high levels of unhealthy eating in youth who were rewarded with food (most likely unhealthy) as opposed to positive active guidance which is directly beneficial in promoting healthy eating [5]. The positive active guidance for healthy eating habits impacts young children, aging parents, teachers, nurses, office workers, and more. 

In conclusion, nutritional security and healthy eating habits are vital to our well-being. If you want to make changes in your eating habits, start with a few simple modifications, use helpful resources to learn about healthy eating, and take advantage of cost-saving tips for affordability. Remember, attitude plays a huge part in whether we eat our fruits and vegetables.     

[1]. Principato, L., Pice, G., & Pezzi, A. (2025). Understanding food choices in sustainable healthy diets – A systematic literature review on behavioral drivers and barriers. Environmental Science & Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103975.

[2]. Mushi, E., Alphonce, R., Waized, B., Muhanga, M., Khalili, N., & Rybak, C. (2025). Influence of 

consumer socio-psychological food environment on food choice and its implications for nutrition: evidence from Tanzania. Frontiers in Nutrition, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2025.1589492.

[3]. Sawyer, A., Van Lenthe, F., Kamphuis, C., Terragni, L., Roos, G., Poelman, M., Nicolaou, M., 

Waterlander, W., Djojosoeparto, S., Scheidmeir, M., Neumann-Podczaska, A., & Stronks, K. 

(2021). Dynamics of the complex food environment underlying dietary intake in low-income 

groups: A systems map of associations extracted from a systematic umbrella literature review. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 18. 

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-021-01164-1.

[4]. Thorndike, A. N., Gardner, C. D., Kendrick, K. B., Seligman, H. K., Yaroch, A. L., Gomes, 

A. V., & American Heart Association Advocacy Coordinating Committee. (2022). 

Strengthening US food policies and programs to promote equity in nutrition security: 

a policy statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 145(24), 

https://doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001072.  

[5]. Yee, A., Lwin, M., & Ho, S. (2017). The influence of parental practices on child promotive and 

preventive food consumption behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0501-3.