Fewer than 1 in 100 Britons eating 'healthy' diet - the rest of us eat food laden with fat, sugar and salt

Fewer than one in 100 Britons have a healthy diet, preferring instead food high in sugar, salt and fat.

A study has found that only eight in 1,000 adults - or 0.8 per cent - met all five targets for levels of saturated fats, total fats, fruit and vegetables, salt and sugar recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Women were better, with 1.2 per cent meeting all five targets, compared with 0.4 per cent of men.

The analysis of figures collected by the Office for National Statistics and the Medical Research Centre is to be published in the journal Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.

Dr Joanne Lunn, of the British Nutrition Foundation, said: 'The consequences of a poor diet are chronic diseases in later life.

'Bad habits are often ingrained in families. They can be changed but it often takes the efforts of the entire family. We need to change some people's preconceptions, such as that healthy food is more expensive.'

The WHO recommends salt intake should be under a teaspoon a day. Consumption of fruit and vegetables should exceed 14oz.