Frequently Asked Questions

It's a research study looking at how households across the island of Ireland buy,

prepare, and eat food, and how this affects nutrition, health, and sustainability.

This is the largest study of its kind ever carried out across the island of Ireland, involving around 1,500 households and about 5,000 participants in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Because of its scale, it can provide a much clearer picture of how people eat in everyday life and produce insights that are more reliable than previous smaller studies.

The findings can help inform nutrition guidance, public policy, and decisions by food producers, shops, and restaurants. The aim is to support healthier and more sustainable food choices for households across the island.

The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland operate within different policy and programme environments that influence how food is produced, sold, and consumed. By comparing households across both jurisdictions, the study can examine how those differences shape what people eat and identify lessons that may benefit both.

We are inviting households across the island of Ireland to take part. Anyone aged 16 or older can participate, and other household members aged four and above can also take part.

Participation begins with completing online questionnaires about your household’s eating habits and lifestyle. Participants will be asked to complete two online 24-hour dietary recalls, and can optionally provide measurements such as height, weight, blood pressure, a cheek swab, and a small finger-prick blood sample.

Participants decide which parts of the study to join and can opt out of any sections they prefer not to take part in. All kits, instructions, and guidance will be provided, and the research team is available to support you throughout.

Participation in the study takes place over two to three weeks. Questionnaires can be completed at your own pace, whenever it suits your schedule.

Households can choose to take part in follow-up studies if they wish. In doing so,

they help researchers understand how diets and food habits change over time.

Once the two to three week assessment is complete, households will receive a

personalised report on their nutrition.

By participating in optional further studies, households become part of a community contributing to research on everyday food choices and can benefit from the knowledge generated by these studies.

Households across the island of Ireland can register their interest in taking part bycontacting the relevant research team closest to where you live.

Participants aged 16 or older can join the study, and other members of their

household aged four and above may also take part. More details are available on our home page.

The study follows GDPR and relevant data protection laws, and the research team has extensive experience in privacy and data protection, running the study to the highest standards.

Participants may withdraw from the study at any time and can have their data

removed before it is fully anonymised. The team is available to support participants with any queries about their data or participation. All data and samples are pseudonymised and securely stored.

The Household Food and Health Study is run by  Ulster University, University College Dublin, University College Cork, and Queen’s University Belfast.

It is funded by Research Ireland in the Republic of Ireland and the Department of

Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland.

The study is conducted as part of the Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems

programme, a research partnership across Ireland and the UK. The Co-Centre

aims to generate evidence that can support the transition towards food systems that are healthier, environmentally sustainable, and economically viable.

The Household Food and Health Study contributes to this evidence base by providing insights specifically on household food habits, which can help inform decisions affecting food producers, shops, restaurants, and households across the island.