In order to live a healthy life, you need to eat a balanced diet that meets all your body's needs. Food is one of the determining factors in the prevention, treatment and development of various pathologies. When eating habits are analyzed from an economic point of view, it can be seen that the quality and variety of food changes according to the population's purchasing power. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively analyze whether low-income families are able to maintain a balanced diet according to the recommendations of the food pyramid, taking into account their food choices and monthly income, to investigate the food consumption of low-income families, to identify the monthly income and the financial percentage spent on food, to compare the reported food consumption with the recommendations of the Food Pyramid for the Brazilian population, classifying the diet as balanced or not.