Food poverty

Twelve percent have to save on food

(Bild: gopixa - stock.adobe.com)

Around twelve percent of Austrians were affected by moderate and/or severe food poverty in the previous year. This means that they had to cut back on the quality and/or quantity of their food supply.

Around 420,000 people even fall into the severe food poverty category. Some of them had to skip meals involuntarily or had nothing to eat for a whole day, according to the survey of around 2,000 people (aged 16 and over), which will be presented at a symposium organized by Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG) in Vienna on Thursday.

Children also indirectly affected
Just under 13 percent of respondents with minors in the household were concerned that their children did not have enough to eat in the past twelve months. Around a fifth stated that they were unable to eat with friends, acquaintances, relatives or restaurants or invite others to eat with them.

According to the survey, younger people, sick people, people with a low level of education and the unemployed are particularly affected. Those affected would like to pay more attention to healthy food and food quality when shopping. The biggest hurdles are a lack of financial resources, too little time and a lack of affordable options. According to experts, measures such as free communal catering, a reduction in VAT on fruit, vegetables and pulses and the promotion of democratic supermarkets in combination with behavioral measures, such as increasing nutritional literacy, would be key.