Taste and costs matter more than healthiness when deciding what to eat, US Americans say in a survey by Pew. In the survey among about 5,000 adults, 83% and 62% respectively say taste is extremely or very important while a lower 52% say that about healthiness. In the same survey, only 21% say their diet is extremely or very healthy. Diets are a driver of major health challenges in the US, including the 40% obesity rate and high prevalence of Type 2 diabetes. But cost appears to be a more important factor, with 69% saying the increased cost of healthy food makes it more difficult for them to eat healthy. Despite an abundance of food in the US, healthy food is harder to get, with some parts of the country being designated as ‘food deserts’. To this point, only 65% of the survey respondents indicate it’s easy to find healthy food close to where they live.
Source: Pew Research Center, May 2025.