The rising price of fruit and vegetables is stoking the obesity crisis, as people struggle to afford a healthy diet, experts have warned.
A new study has found the cost of eating healthy foods has soared 91 per cent while the cost of high-calorie processed foods has fallen.
The findings have prompted renewed calls for drastic action, introducing taxes on junk food to help stem the rising tide of obesity and obesity-related diseases.
Researchers have urged the Government to introduce VAT on unhealthy foods, and use the proceeds raised to subsidise fruit and vegetables.
The move, they say, would save thousands of lives lost each year to weight-related illnesses.
In the UK, from 1980 to 2012, the price of an ice cream halved, while the price of fresh green vegetables rose by 199 per cent.
Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute, a UK-based think tank, were inspired to look at the cost of various foods in emerging economies - in comparison with trends seen in the UK and US.
Focusing on Brazil, China, Korea and Mexico, the first study of its kind, found that between 1990 and 2012, fruit and vegetable prices soared 91 per cent, a price hike greater than in any other food group.
Meanwhile, some processed foods, including ready meals, have dropped in price by 20 per cent.
