scotPHO introduction:
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  Diet & Nutrition
Key points
  Introduction
  Policy context
  Data
  Key data sources
  References
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Diet and nutrition: key points

  • Good nutrition is essential to good health; both current health and wellbeing, and health and wellbeing in later life.
  • Eating a healthy diet can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, cancers, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and tooth decay. 
  • In 1993, the Scottish Office published 'The Scottish Diet Report'. This led, in 1994, to the announcement of a series of targets for dietary improvements in Scotland. 
  • These targets formed the basis of the Scottish Diet Action Plan (SDAP) 'Eating for health', published by the Scottish Office in 1996.  The targets were originally set for achievement in 2005.  However, in 'Improving health: the challenge' a commitment was made to further implementation of the SDAP aims until at least 2010.
  • In January 2005, the 'Report of the Working Group on Monitoring Scottish Dietary Targets' was published along with the Response of the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS) and the Scottish Executive Health Department.
  • In September 2006 NHS Health Scotland published a Review of the Scottish Diet Action Plan (SDAP). As part of the SDAP Review, and taking into account the recommendations of the Working Group on Monitoring Scottish Dietary Targets, the FSAS commissioned 'A Review of Food Consumption and Nutrient Intakes from National Surveys in Scotland: Comparison to the Scottish Dietary Targets' PDF Button(705KB).
  • The review of progress towards the 2005 dietary targets found that none of them had been met.  The only target where the trend was in the right direction, although without meeting the 2005 target, was total fat as a source of energy falling from around 40% to 38% (target - no more than 35%).   Meanwhile, there was no change in consumption of fruit and vegetables, saturated fatty acids, total complex carbohydrates, oil rich fish and breakfast cereals all of which were expected to show an increase.  Of particular concern were trends in the wrong direction: an increase in non-milk extrinsic (NME) sugar intake and a decrease in consumption of potatoes and bread.  Also, consumption of the foods targeted for increased consumption was found to be significantly lower in the most deprived groups of the population. Some exploration of potential reasons behind these target findings is included in the SDAP Review.
  • In 2006 a survey was undertaken to assess the dietary sodium levels among adults in the general population in Scotland  to establish progress towards meeting the target to reduce sodium intakes in Scotland across the population from 9.5g to 6g per day by 2010. 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.