Scotland’s General Health Remains Level, But Child Nutrition Sparks Worries

21 Sep 2016 --- Scotland, known for its general poor health and obesity rates, has released its Annual Health Report, revealing little change in rates of obesity and general health, but sparking fresh concerns over child nutrition.

The report that looked at over 6,000 adults and children, offers an annual insight into the general health of the Scottish population through issues such as diet, exercise and disease.

The report showed that despite the proportion ‘healthy weight’ children increasing year on year since 2011 to 73% in 2015, it revealed worrying statistics about the state of general child nutrition. 

It showed that the average Scottish child ate under 3 daily portions of fruit and vegetables, while 7 percent did not eat any at all, a statistic significantly lower than that in 2012 and 2013 (10-11%). 

The report also showed that compared with children with parents who are not overweight, children with an obese parent were significantly more likely to be at risk of being overweight or obese.

However, the state of adult health painted a similar picture to previous reports, with stats showing that in 2015, two-thirds of adults (65%) were overweight, including 29% who were obese, figures that have changed little since the 2008 report.

Waist circumferences were higher on average in 2014/2015 than in 2003 for both men (98.2 cm in 2014/2015 and 95.3cm in 2003) and women (89.5 cm in 2014/2015, 86.3 cm in 2003). 

Furthermore, the proportion of men with a raised waist circumference, greater than 102cm, increased from 28% in 2003 to 37% in 2014/2015. The proportion of women with a raised waist circumference, greater than 88cm, increased from 39% to 52% over the same period. 

The report also detailed that two-thirds of all women (66%) and three in five men (59%) had an increased risk of disease based on their BMI and waist circumference.

However, this year obesity related disease in general remained level to previous years, with fifteen percent of adults aged 16 and over reported ever having been diagnosed with any CVD condition by a doctor in 2015.  

Among adults aged 16 and over, 19% had any CVD condition or diabetes, 6% had doctor-diagnosed diabetes and 8% had ischaemic heart disease (IHD) or stroke. Previously, doctor-diagnosed diabetes had increased significantly from 2003 to 2011 (4% to 6%) and has remained at this level since.