The national diet

Food habits are not static and never have been (Braudel, 1973; Burnett, 1979). An enormous number of factors influence both the choice and use of different foodstuffs. To claim that eating habits do not or cannot change (Marr and Morris, 1982; Marr, 1983) is to ignore history. Since the Second World War the average family has spent a decreasing proportion of the household budget on food-over 30% in the early 1950s compared with less than 20% by the 1980s. More meals are now eaten outside the home, particularly at midday in schools, works canteens, take-away and pubs. The greater number of women going out to work has contributed to both changing meal patterns and content. There has been an enormous expansion in the convenience sector, with the result that the housewife now spends less time preparing meals, and the family eats together less often and at less regular times. These changes have been accompanied with shifts in the nutritional balance of the British diet, some of which are the continuation of a longer historical trend, while others are of more recent origin. This paper examines changes in food consumption since the Second World War, and considers the potential for improvement in eating habits necessary for the reduction of coronary heart disease in the U.K.