According to data recently published by UNICEF, for the first time ever, more children aged 5 to 19 globally are now obese than underweight. UNICEF believes this trend could in part be explained by a shift in food habits worldwide: ultra-processed, sugary and energy-dense food has been replacing fruits, vegetables and protein in children's diets, leading to potentially long-lasting health issues. However, the issue of price plays an important part in people's diets.
As our infographic shows, almost one in five (19 percent) U.S.-based respondent surveyed by Statista between October 2024 and September 2025 said they simply couldn't afford healthy food, the largest share in any of the 32 countries included in the study, though the proportion was very similar in Canada (18 percent). Between 12 and 15 percent of the people surveyed in France, Germany and the United Kingdom said they couldn't afford to eat healthily, while they were only 7 percent in Spain and 6 percent in China.
