A new study by consumer watchdog DECO has found that most Portuguese have unhealthy eating habits.
Four of out of 10 admit to eating “sweets” every day – with chocolate at the top of the ‘guilty pleasure’ list – and not eating enough fruit, vegetables or fish.
DECO’s study says 77% do not have “healthy eating habits,” with over one third (36%) claiming this is because they cannot afford to eat healthily.
Other reasons include “not being able to resist junk food” and “not having time to cook healthy meals”.
The study was conducted on December 2016 and involved nearly 1,350 Portuguese aged 30 to 80.
The study’s ‘silver lining’ is that most (77%) said they have changed at least some of their least-healthy habits to “avoid health problems”, while around half have started drinking fewer soft drinks.
Four out of 10 also said they eat less pre-packaged food than they used to.
But while 40% believe they lead healthy lifestyles, DECO says this is not truly the case and may be related to a lot of “wrong information circulating on the internet”.
