New Year’s resolution: Cleaner diet. But it might be easier said than done

We’re approaching mid-January, and by now you’re probably rolling your eyes at every mention of the word “resolution” (and so are we). The usual litany is often topped by committing to exercising more or joining a gym. (Yes, we even wrote about it.)

But just as important is a healthy diet. A growing body of evidence is showing that eating a lot of ultra-processed food and drink products (UPF)—manufactured products such as soft drinks, frozen dinners, deli meats or many breakfast cereals containing few, if any, whole foods and with low nutritional value—can be harmful to health.

“Consumption of ultra-processed and minimally processed foods by eating location and occasion in Canada,” a Statistics Canada study released late 2025, sheds some light on how much, how often and where Canadians eat UPF.

Let’s have a look at some of the main takeaways, along with some other relevant data, to see what might influence dietary choices.

The study, which analyzed 2015 national-level data from the Canadian Community Health Survey - Nutrition, studied consumption patterns of UPF and unprocessed or minimally processed foods and drinks (MPF). It found that Canadians aged 2 years and older consumed, on average, most of their daily energy (in kilocalories) at home (70.1%), with dinner accounting for one-third (33.1%) of energy intake.

Over 50% of energy consumed at restaurants was from UPF, a rate even higher among children and adolescents (over 65%).

The study also found that UPF made up two-thirds (66.5%) of energy intake from restaurant lunches and slightly lesser proportions of restaurant snacks (62.2%) and breakfasts (60.2%). This was also the case for over half (52.5%) of energy intake from home breakfasts.

Conversely, energy intake from two-fifths of home lunches (40.8%) and lunches consumed in institutions (40.4%)—such as school or workplace—came from MPF.

Energy intake from just over half of home dinners (53.9%) and dinners consumed in institutions (50.8%) were from MPF—the only two scenarios in which MPF accounted for the majority of energy intake. This indicates that nutritious meals are often on the table, though there is room for improvement.

But, as some of our other data suggest, eating healthier may not be an easy choice for many.

The study used the most recent available, nationally representative nutritional data (2015) to analyze consumption patterns. On an average annual basis, prices for food purchased from stores increased by 4.1% from 2014 to 2015. More recently, prices for groceries peaked in 2022, increasing 9.8% on an annual average basis—the highest rise in over 40 years.

From 2015 to 2024, grocery prices rose 32.4%. Over the same period, prices for healthier options such as fresh vegetables (+49.6%), fresh or frozen poultry (+38.3%) and fish (+39.6%) all increased at a faster pace than the overall grocery bill, while fresh or frozen meat (excluding poultry) (+32.3%) and fresh fruit (+24.2%) weren’t far behind.

Affording food and other essentials has continued to be a challenge for many households.

In 2023, about one in four Canadians (25.5%) in the provinces lived in households that reported experiencing some form of food insecurity, and rates were even higher for one-parent families (47.8%) and among unattached non-seniors (31.7%).

In the spring of 2025, the Canadian Social Survey found that nearly one in four Canadians (24.1%) reported it being easy or very easy for their household to meet its financial needs, down from nearly half (47.7%) in the summer of 2021.

If you can afford the ingredients but can’t spare the time to cook, you’re not alone.

Our latest data on time use are from 2022, when almost one in four Canadians (24.2%) felt high levels of time pressure—the highest rate reported since we started tracking time use in the early 1990s. This proportion rose to more than one-third (36.9%) among people living in a household with children younger than 15 years.

As well, more than half (52.2%) of people with children reported feeling trapped in their daily routine—putting a number on what many parents will tell you about how challenging it is to carve out the time for anything, including putting a healthy meal on the table!