Government guidelines are meant to help us live longer and healthier lives, but what evidence is there to show they really make a difference? HEATHER STEPHEN investigates
FOR OUR HEALTH? ARE GUIDELINESGOOD
T
ucking into our turkey dinner and cracking open the bubbly this Christmas, healthy eating is likely to be the last thing on
our minds. But in January we may want advice to mend our ways, and the Government is happy to help. The Department of Health has for
decades issued advice on how to live more healthily based on evidence collected by their own scientists and more research from all around the world. Most recently, in February it recommended we cut down on the consumption of red meat to reduce the risk of bowel cancer. Then in July the Government made its first UK-wide recommendation that we
should all exercise for 30 minutes a day for five days every week. Much of the health guidance
given out by governments across the world has its roots in research carried out by international bodies like the World Health Organisation – a United Nations organisation designed to improve health – and the World Cancer Research Fund. So guidelines around the world all have a similar health message – eat more fruit and vegetables, have less fat and sugar and do more exercise. Many of us have a basic idea of
what we need to do to stay healthy, but evidence suggests that we are not always that good at following
up on the Government’s advice. In a report published in 2008, research by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) found although British people were eating less fat and red meat and more fruit and vegetables, they were still taking in too much salt and sugar. Only a third of men and a quarter
of women in this country were found to meet the Department of Health’s target of 30 minutes of exercise five times a week, while 60 per cent of men and 44 per cent of women were drinking more alcohol than the recommended limit. The Government does adjust its health guidance in the light of new