Cutting the haggis, but not the neeps
urgently tackle the national diet as figures show Scots continuing
to die earlier and suffer higher levels of serious disease than
most of their European counterparts.
A leading epidemiologist and population health expert has called for urgent action to improve the health of Scots after research revealed that death rates among Scots of working age (15-74 years) are the highest in western Europe.
David Leon, Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, warned that unless there is commitment across the government to develop policies and interventions aimed at improving the Scots' diet, Scots will continue to die earlier, and suffer higher levels of serious disease than most of their European counterparts, even those living in countries with higher levels of poverty.
Although it is usually Scottish men who attract headlines for their poor health, research carried by Professor Leon revealed that it is actually Scottish women who have the worst comparative position. According to Leon's report, 'Understanding the Health of Scotland's Population in an International Context', published in December 2002 and commissioned by the Public Health Institute of Scotland (PHIS), since 1950 Scottish women of working age have had higher mortality than women in any of the other 16 western European countries included in the analysis. This is partly driven by them having the highest rates of death from lung cancer in the world as well as the highest rates in Europe for coronary heart disease.
"We need to place a high priority on policies that improve the Scottish diet and, in particular, increase consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, and reduce exposure to tobacco smoke, both from active and passive smoking," said Professor Leon.
Concerns about the Scottish diet - at both a local and national level - have spurned a series of studies in the past. Recent research conducted by the Food Standards Agency Scotland suggests a distinct lack of motivation on the part of the Scottish consumer to eat a healthy diet and echoes Leon's findings. In 2001, the research survey into consumer attitudes revealed a 'considerable gap betweenawareness of what one should do and actual behaviour' cites the report, when it came to healthy eating. The survey found that 48 per cent of Scots knew they should eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day but only 23 per cent actually did so.
According to Leon, Scotland has not always performed so poorly in the health stakes. In the first half of the 20th century life expectancy in Scotland was actually higher for both men and women than many western European countries, such as France, Spain and Italy. In the middle of the 20th Century things began to go wrong and it began to slip down the European life expectancy table, continues Professor Leon.
His comments come on the launch in Edinburgh, Scotland of the first ever concerted drive across Scottish government departments to tackle fundamental causes of ill health and promote wellbeing. The Scottish Executive's Health Improvement Challenge is backed by £250 million over three years and sets a common agenda with local authorities and voluntary groups for a host of initiatives to improve diet, cut smoking rates and increase physical activity levels.
