Students Spend a Fifth of Their Annual Maintenance Loan on Takeaways
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New research has shown that Brits eat four ready meals a week
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University students spend £33.51 a week on takeaways
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Equating to an annual total of nearly £1,800
STUDENTS are blowing A FIFTH of their university loans on fast food – eating five takeaways and ready meals a week, spending £33.51 on processed food.
Time constraints discourage students from cooking from scratch with 40% admitting that ‘it takes too long’ and that they ‘don’t have the time’ to cook. The unhealthy habits don’t stop there as more than half (54%) of students also confessed that they buy food to snack on, such as crisps and chocolate. The independent survey that we commissioned also revealed that the average UK household consumes four ready meals a week.
Lack of confidence in the kitchen plays a big role in why we’re not, as a nation, cooking healthy meals. A fifth of us (21%) are not confident when it comes to cooking with raw ingredients and creating a meal from scratch, such as a fish dish. In fact, 22% admit to not knowing how to cook fish. It also seems that convenience gets the better of us as more than a third (35%) of family’s claim that they opt for ready meals since it’s quicker and easier than cooking a meal themselves.
We teamed up with TV-Chef Rachel Green to help the nation eat well by creating a series of recipes that demonstrate just how easy it is to cook a healthy meal using fresh and frozen produce. Often overlooked in favour of another meat or plant based protein, seafood is hugely beneficial to a healthy diet with unrivalled levels of omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. So much so, the NHS recommends eating at least two portions of fish a week. This piece of research confirmed that in fact 89% of students don’t eat the recommended amount of fish alongside 86% of the adults surveyed.
“It’s not unknown that the problem of obesity is continuously on the rise with nearly two-thirds* of the population falling into this category. We really need to be looking closely at our eating habits to understand where changes can be made. Takeaways and processed ready meals are considerably higher in fat, salt andsugar than freshly prepared food and a diet that consists mainly of them will naturally propel the issue. There’s a real misconception that cooking from scratch takes a lot of time, energy and creativity. In actual fact, if you keep things simple you can easily make a dish in as little as 15 minutes, which is much quicker than most takeaway delivery services and more importantly, more nutritious.”
HOW TO KEEP THINGS SIMPLE
It’s simple, really…
Rachel has created three easy to make, student-friendly recipes (click here) that can be made in minutes.
Alaska salmon egg fried rice
Green spaghetti with salmon, peas and pesto
Indian spiced Alaska pollock flatbread
No faff.
No frills.
No fuss.
AND…just think what you could do with an extra £1,800 per year in your back pocket?