Scottish attitudes to healthy eating
Food Standard’s Scotland (FSS) recently released the survey results on Scottish people’s attitude to diet and health. The findings will be used to help inform the development of FSS diet policy, including approaches to consumer messaging on healthy eating. Here’s some of the highlights.
Consumer understanding of healthy eating
When someone says or you see the phrase “healthy eating”, this is what the majority of Scottish people think it means:
- Having a balanced diet
- Eating food that is locally sourced
- More fresh food – like fruit and vegetables
- Less sugar, fat and salt
- Less snacking in between meals
The survey findings could suggest that the majority of Scottish people understand what it takes to eat a healthy diet, but are not able to do it in practice.
What makes it difficult to eat healthily?
The survey goes onto suggest some of the reasons as to why Scottish people are struggling with implementing healthy diet into their daily lives:
High Cost
75% would approve taxation of foods high in fat, salt and sugar if it reduced the cost of healthy foods
Availability
Eating a healthy diet outside of the home was viewed as more difficult, as there was a perception of limited availability and convenience of healthy options outside the home
Lack of willpower
The survey found that lack of willpower when it comes to foods high in fat, salt and sugar was a key reason
Snacking culture
Snacking on foods and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar was another reason. For adults this appeared to be linked to habit (e.g. TV viewing) and emotional factors such as stress and boredom, whilst for children it was more focused on refuelling when hungry.
Our responsibility as a food producer
With a fifth of children either overweight or obese, we’ve made it our mission, as a food producer, to help children eat a balanced diet. We’ve taken into account the cost, availability, the fact that kids can be fussy with food and the difficulty with getting kids to eat a full meal.
It’s not been easy, but we now have a solution that offers a popular and tasty balanced meal, that is affordable and available in schools and kids leisure sites.
