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As the recession rolls on, the worries and stresses related to money problems are affecting the health and well-being of Britain.

The nation appears to be stuck in a downward spiral of unhealthy lifestyles as increasingly stressed Britons may be looking to save time and money by cutting back on exercise and healthy foods – according to PruHealth, the health of the nation has declined since July 2008. It found that worryingly nearly one in five Brits now admit they live unhealthy lifestyles.

It seems the recession is leaving people not only overworked, but increasingly overwhelmed. In the last six months, PruHealth has found that the percentage of Brits saying they are under a great deal or a significant amount of stress has increased to 40%, and almost half of the population consider themselves to be stressed.

One in ten of these people say the stress is making them ill – perhaps unsurprisingly, 41% of people suffering from worries put their increased stress levels down to their money worries and increased workload.

The problems of increased stress are being exacerbated by lack of exercise, with 14% of people never working out. Over a quarter of adults blame work commitments for their lack of exercise. Dr David Grainger, senior fellow at Cambridge University, says: “Replicated across the entire adult population of the UK, these findings suggest a staggering two million more people have an unhealthy lifestyle than six months ago. The most likely cause? Economic recession.”

Also, almost half of Brits say they struggle to eat the recommended “5-a-day” servings of fresh fruit and vegetables. People say it's all a matter of money – over half of Britons feel they cannot currently afford the added expenses associated with being healthy, such as gym memberships and super-foods, and over one in three say they find it hard to take care of themselves due to their busy schedule.

Shaun Matisonn, chief executive at PruHealth, says: “It’s a lack of health self-awareness that is the key issue. Three-quarters of people see the health of themselves and their loved ones as a key priority, but for the majority it would take a diagnosis of ill health to motivate any significant change of lifestyle.

“Finding a way to motivate a change in lifestyle is the biggest hurdle. We need to find a way of helping people to stop thinking about what they should be doing for their health and actually doing it. We need to set achievable targets, this way people can take action now to prevent illness, rather than waiting to be diagnosed with a problem.”

SOURCE: Prudential, 20/04/09

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