It is costlier to live healthy, affect an individual's weight and health, a new study says.

According to the researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), based in Barcelona, Spain, a healthier person spends more money on food, buying higher quality goods and better alternatives, particularly when it comes to fruits and vegetables. Because of this, risks for cardiometabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular issues decrease.

"We have seen that a 1.4 Euro (or $1.53) increase in average spending on food is associated with the consumption of 74 grams more vegetables and 52 grams more fruit, per person per day, for a 1,000 kcal diet," said Helmut Schroder, one of the researchers of the study said. "Conversely, a reduction of 6 cent in average spending is linked to a decrease of 121 grams of vegetables and 94 grams of fruit, as well as increased consumption of foodstuffs like fast food and baked goods," he added. 

The study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, aims to raise awareness to the public, as well as public health officials, reiterating the need for better policies and action that promotes living healthy and eating better diets-which can be afforded by everyone, across sociopolitical and economic classes.

Policies, that would generate changes and have implications for food prices and production, agriculture and as well as the for the economy should be created or amended immediately, the study campaigns. The research also called for more consumer aid programs for their citizens.

Closely examining a group of 2,181 Spanish-both men and women, aged between 25 to 74 for ten years, the study find out that people who prefer to spend less on food are unhealthier than those who are willing to spend more. The researchers measured the differences in their height and weight, as well as their recorded dietary data scientifically validated food frequency questionnaire, during the course of the study and the results they were able to gather confirmed their hypothesis.

Between 2000 and 2010, the price of healthy food in Spain rose faster and more sharply than junk food and less healthy options. Low calorie-food such as fruits and vegetables increased over 50% in price, compared to the prices pf processed food and pastries that only went up 23.1% and 10%, respectively.

In the US, a study published on the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics which was conducted by researchers from the University of Washington, found out that healthy living really costs more. Comparing the prices of 370 food items available at local grocery stores, data showed that not only junk foods cost cheaper than "healthy" and "natural" food, these food cluster are less likely to rise as a result of inflation.