500 adults and 500 children have had everything they’ve been eating and drinking pored over by experts, and their health checked by nurses, to compile the UK’s new National Diet and Nutrition Survey.
It marks the start of continuous monitoring of our national diet by the Food Standards Agency.
The diets of teenage girls are a particular concern from the survey’s findings, so much so that the FSA is turning to social networks to promote healthy eating messages like “5-a-day”.
People taking part in the study received up to £40 in shopping vouchers as a thank you for their time in filling out food diaries. Many people also agreed to be weighed, measured and have blood and urine tests done.
The key results:
We’re eating less saturated fat, trans fat and added sugar than 10 years ago when the national diet was last assessed.
Saturated fat intakes in adults have dropped slightly to 12.8% of food energy. That’s still above the recommended level of 11%.
Trans fat intakes have also fallen slightly to 0.8% of food energy, and are well within recommended levels.
We’re still eating too much added sugar. It makes up 12.5% - an eighth - of food energy intake compared to the recommended 11%. Overall, men and children are eating less added sugar.
The government’s health eating message looks to be starting to work. A third of men and women are now eating the recommended “5-a-day” fruit and veg. On average, adults are eating 4.4 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
We’re still not eating enough fibre which is needed for healthy digestion. Average intakes are 14g per day for adults, falling short of the recommended 18g.
Consumption of oily fish, the main source of omega 3 fatty acids, is well below the recommended one portion per week in both adults and children.
Iron intakes among teenage girls and women are still low, which can lead to iron deficiency and anaemia.
However, overall, vitamin and mineral intakes among the population are slightly improved.
Gill Fine, Director of Consumer Choice and Dietary Health at the FSA, says in a news release “It’s good news that the survey suggests around a third of the population is eating five portions of fruit and veg each day and it’s encouraging to see that these initial findings suggest slightly lower intakes of saturated fat and added sugars than in previous surveys.
“However, there is obviously a way to go before we are meeting all the Government’s dietary recommendations.”
Teenagers a concern
From the measurements taken by nurses, nearly 69% of men taking part in the survey were overweight, including more than 24% who were obese. Nearly 59% of women were overweight, including nearly 32% of them obese.
For boys age 2 to 18, 29% were overweight, including 13% who were obese. For girls, 31% were overweight, including 20% who were obese.
Teenagers are still having too many sugary fizzy drinks, chocolate bars, packets of crisps and other junk food although consumption has dropped since the last survey.
Just over 7% of girls aged 11 to 18 managed the “5-a-day” portions of fruit and veg, compared to 22% of boys the same age.
More than 40% of girls aged 11 to 18 don’t get enough iron in their diet.
The FSA has taken on a social media agency to promote healthy eating messages to teenagers through sites like Facebook and Bebo. Kate Frankum, Head of Marketing at the FSA, says in a news release: “We are always looking for new ways to interact with young people. I hope that teenagers will be more willing to engage with our healthy eating advice when we communicate with them in an online environment.”
Drinking habits
73% of men and 57% of women had drunk alcohol over the course of a week. 28% of men and 15% of women had consumed more than twice the recommended levels on one of these days. These levels haven’t improved since they were last checked in 2007.
4% of boys aged 13 to 15 years and 12% of girls of the same age reported usually drinking alcohol once a week or more.
Our diet is still being watched.
The survey will now keep going in a rolling programme to look for signs of improvement in what we eat and drink.
The FSA’s Gill Fine says “Good nutrition is important for health and poor diet accounts for a large percentage of premature deaths. We now need to build on the indications of positive change we have observed in this survey.
“By continuing our programme of campaign work and encouraging product reformulation in key areas such as saturated fat, we will hopefully observe further improvements over the next few years of the programme.”
