Diet and nutrition: data overview

Introduction

The uses and limitations of different dietary surveys and methodologies which provide information on diet and nutrition in Scotland have been extensively reviewed in the Report of the Working Group on Monitoring Scottish Dietary Targets.   More recently, 'A Review of Food Consumption and Nutrient Intakes from National Surveys in Scotland: Comparison to the Scottish Dietary Targets' (705 KB) also examined the usefulness of various surveys.

There have also been a number of specific information gaps/deficiencies, including detailed dietary data at sub-Scotland level, international comparisons, salt and sugar intake levels, and data on what children are actually eating. 

The Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS) has addressed some of these gaps via two surveys that they have commissioned. These are:

a) a dietary survey of Scottish schoolchildren, designed to measure intakes of non-milk extrinsic (NME) sugars and other nutrients; and

b) the measurement of dietary sodium intake in the population by the measurement of 24 hour urinary sodium excretion.

The final report of the dietary survey of Scottish schoolchildren is due to be published at the end of 2007. The assessment of dietary sodium levels among adults in the general population - Scotland, was published in March 2007. This found an estimated daily salt intake of 9.1g per day, with a mean of 10.6g per day among men and 7.6g among women. Overall, three quarters of the population had a daily intake higher than the recommended 6g per day. The results of the survey in Scotland were similar to a parallel study in England where the estimated daily salt intake was 9.0g per day (10.2g in men and 7.7g in women).

Much of the data that is currently available comes from surveys, further details on which are provided in key data sources.

Progress Towards the Scottish Dietary Targets

'A Review of Food Consumption and Nutrient Intakes from National Surveys in Scotland: Comparison to the Scottish Dietary Targets' (705KB) looked at recent national dietary and health surveys and, with re-analysis where appropriate, compared the results against the Scottish Dietary Targets.  It also examined the usefulness of the surveys in terms of methods used, presentation of results, and strengths and weaknesses for monitoring diet and nutrition in Scotland.

The report found that none of the 2005 dietary targets had been met. 

Just one target, 'total fat as a source of energy', showed some improvement, but not sufficient to meet the 2005 target - total fat as a source of energy falling from around 40% to 38% (target - no more than 35%).  Also, these findings were likely to be as a result, not of the desired increase in consumption of complex carbohydrates, but of an increase in the proportion of energy from sugars (see 'total complex carbohydrates' and 'non-milk extrinsic (NME) sugars' targets).  

There were a number of food and nutrient intakes which showed no/little change since 1996:

• daily consumption of fruit and vegetables - average intake remaining at around 246 grams a day, whilst the target was a minimum of 400 grams per person per day.  The quantity of fruit and fruit juice consumed had, however, increased across all types of fruit but particularly bananas.
• saturated fatty acids - average intakes had fallen from about 15.6% to 15.2% of food energy, whilst the target was to reduce this to no more than 11% of food energy.
• total complex carbohydrates - the target was to increase intake by 25%, but intake remained at around 141g per person per day.
• weekly consumption of oil-rich fish - the target was to double consumption from 44 grams per person per week, but consumption remained at around 32g.  Note: revised baseline figure is due to exclusion of canned tuna (see also Table 1, below).  
• consumption of breakfast cereals - the target was to double consumption from 18g per person per day, but consumption levels were unchanged.

Of particular concern were where trends in food consumption had moved in the opposite direction to that of the 2005 target:

• intakes of non-milk extrinsic (NME) sugars (one of the causes of tooth decay) had risen rather than being held constant (target for adults) or being reduced (target for children).
• potato consumption had fallen by 25% rather than increasing by 25%.
• bread consumption had fallen by 12% instead of increasing by 45%, with the consumption of brown/wholemeal bread falling by 25%.

Table 1.  Summary of progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets: Results from the National Food Survey (NFS) 1996 compared with the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS) 2003/2004

Target Food / Nutrient	Target	NFS 1996	EFS 2003/04	Change
Fruit and Vegetables	More than 400g per day	249g	246g	No change
Bread (all types)	154g per day	133g	116g	Down
Brown / Wholemeal Bread	More than 77g per day	26.5g	19.7g	Down
Breakfast Cereals (all types)	34g per day	18.2g	17.7g	No change
Oil Rich Fish1	88g per week	35.1g	31.8g	No change
White Fish	No decrease (figures per week)	107g	75.2g	Down
Fat	35% of food energy or less	39.6%	37.6%	Down
Saturated Fat	11% of food energy or less	15.6%	15.2%	No change
NME Sugars	No increase	13.6%	16.7%	Up
Total Complex Carbohydrates	155g per day	143g	141g	No change

Note:  there are differences between the baseline figures published in the SDAP (derived from NFS 1989-1991) and the revised figures for 1996, calculated from the NFS 1996.

¹ Canned tuna is not considered an oily fish as the long chain omega-3 fatty acids are lost in the canning process for tuna.  Other canned oily fish are not affected in the same way.

Analyses by Deprivation and Urban Rural Classification

Consumption of foods targeted for increased consumption (fruit and vegetables, brown/wholemeal bread, breakfast cereals and oil-rich fish) was found to be  significantly lower in the most deprived groups of the population.  Meanwhile, analysis by Urban Rural Classification showed that remote rural localities had the highest consumption of these foods.