INDEPTH
SCOTLAND EATING
ITSELF SICK
SCOTLAND HAS ONE OF THE WORST OBESITY RECORDS AMONG ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) COUNTRIES.
n fact, it’s reckoned that overweight and obesity issues cost the NHS in Scotland between £363 and £600 million per annum, mainly as a result of associated conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes rather than direct costs of treating or managing overweight and obesity
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According to the Scottish Government, the latest estimates of the total (direct and indirect) cost of overweight and obesity to Scottish society, including labour market-related costs such as lost productivity, have been put at between £0.9 billion-£4.6 billion, so it’s clear that tackling obesity remains a key priority for government and public health professionals.
The main problem that healthcare professionals face in tackling the issue of excess weight, however, is, according to the country’s food standards watchdog, the fact that people are deceiving themselves into thinking they are eating healthily.
In their report ‘The Scottish Diet: It Needs To Change’ Food Standards Scotland points out that the national diet of often fatty foods hasn’t
30 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST
changed for fi fteen years and that the problems associated with a poor diet are still not appreciated by many Scots. The report’s alarming statistics reveal that:
• Sixty-fi ve per cent of the Scottish population are either overweight or obese but three quarters (77 per cent) of people in Scotland believe they have a healthy or very healthy diet
• Around half a million people in Scotland are at a risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• The Scottish diet is too high in calories, fats, sugars and salt, and too low in fi bre, fruit and vegetables
• Little or no progress has been made towards meeting the Scottish Dietary Goals over the last fi fteen years
As a nation Scotland consumes too many calories, too much fat, sugar and salt, and not enough fruit, vegetables, oil-rich fi sh and high-fi bre foods, the report says. People living in the most deprived areas tend to have the worst diets, partly due to the popularity of sugary drinks.
Unsurprisingly, the persistently bad national diet is placing greater burden on the NHS, the report adds, pointing out that around 500,000 people in Scotland are at high risk of developing diabetes – a number which is increasing every year.
Food Standards Scotland have already advised the Scottish Government of the need to reduce the consumption of discretionary food and drink if signifi cant measurable improvements are to be made to the diet and health of the Scottish public. These are foods and drinks high in calories and low in nutritional value, including biscuits, cakes, confectionery, savoury snacks and sugar sweetened drinks.
ADULT OBESITY
• In 2014, 65 per cent of adults aged 16 and over were overweight, including 28 per cent who were obese.
• The mean body mass index (BMI) for all adults was 27.6 kg/m², with a similar level for men (27.5) as for women (27.6).
• The level of obesity increased between 1995 and 2008 (from 17 per cent to 26 per cent of those aged 16-64) but has not changed signifi cantly since.
• Mean BMI among those aged 16-64 rose from 25.2 kg/m² in 1995 to 27.2 kg/m² in 2008 and has remained relatively static since (27.4 in 2014).
• A higher proportion of men than women were overweight including obese in 2014 (69 per cent compared with 61 per cent), while women were more likely than men to be obese (29 per cent compared with 26 per cent).
The Food Standards Scotland (FSS) Board also advised the Scottish Government that the Scottish Dietary Goals should be updated to refl ect the recent recommendations from the independent Scientifi c Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) on carbohydrate and health.
The proposed revised goals are:
• to reduce free sugars to fi ve per cent of total energy
• to increase dietary fi bre intake to 30g per day
• to maintain total carbohydrate at 50 per cent of total energy, with no more than fi ve per cent total energy from free sugars.
Things aren’t much better with children....
In 2014, 68 per cent of children aged 2-15 were in the healthy weight range. This was not signifi cantly different to the fi gure in 2013 (70 per cent).
• Just under a third (31 per cent) of children in 2014 were at risk of overweight (including obesity), and 17 per cent were at risk of obesity. Both these fi gures have been fairly stable in recent years.
• However, the proportion of girls at risk of overweight (including obesity) was at its highest level at 34 per cent. Further years’ data will be needed to determine whether this is the start of a trend.
• Girls were more likely to be at risk of overweight (including obesity) than boys (34 per cent compared with 28 per cent) in 2014, though the reverse has been the case in previous years.
• In 2014, one per cent of all children were at risk of being underweight, with similar fi gures by sex
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