Publication
Indicators for health education in Scotland; summary of findings from the 1996 Health Education Population Survey (HEPS)
Diet / nutrition
The role of diet and nutrition in improving health has been highlighted inThe Scottish Diet (SOHHD, 1993) and Eating for Health: A Diet ActionPlan for Scotland (SODoH, 1996). Healthy eating is of particular relevanceto health education given the current emphasis on reducing the incidence of CVDand cancer, and in the promotion of dental/oral health.
| Knowledge indicator: The proportion of people aged 16-74who can identify the recommended daily level for fruit and vegetableconsumption for a healthy diet. |
Figure 6 shows the amount of fruit and vegetables respondents thought wasthe recommended daily amount. Only 13% of respondents correctly identified therecommended level for fruit and vegetable consumption as five portions per day.
Figure 6: Amount of fruit and vegetables identified as the recommended daily consumption level
Number of portions |
% |
0 |
* |
1 |
17 |
2 |
23 |
3 |
22 |
4 |
12 |
5 |
13 |
More than 5 |
6 |
Don’t know |
6 |
Note: * represents a percentage less than 0.5% but greater than 0%
Motivation indicator: The proportion of people aged 16-74 who want or intend to eat more healthily. |
When respondents were asked whether there were any changes they would like to make to improve their health, 18% said they would like to eat more healthily, while 11% intend to do so in the next six months.
Motivation indicator: The proportion of people aged 16-74 who report motivational barriers to eating more healthily. |
The main motivational barrier was lack of will power (mentioned by 32%), while 21% said they did not like or enjoy eating healthy foods.
Skills indicator: The proportion of people aged 16-74 who feel they lack the necessary skills to enable them to eat more healthily. |
Lack of skills does not emerge as a particularly strong barrier to eating more healthily. Not knowing what changes to make or how to cook more healthy foods was only mentioned by 17% and 13% of respondents respectively. However, 29% expressed an interest in knowing more about preparing healthy food on a budget, which suggests that financial considerations have some influence on choosing healthy foods. This is supported to some extent by the observation that 27% of respondents reported the expense of healthy foods to be a barrier to eating more healthily.
Behaviour indicator: The proportion of people aged 16-74 who have tried to make changes in their diet during the past year. |
Respondents were asked whether they had tried to make any changes in their diet in the past year. Overall, 83% of respondents reported having tried to make some sort of change, the main ones being shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Dietary changes made in past year
Change made |
% |
Eating more fruit and vegetables |
43 |
Using low fat alternatives |
43 |
Eating less fatty foods |
38 |
Eating more fibre |
38 |
Eating less sugary foods |
36 |
Among those who tried to makes changes in their diet, high proportions reported that they had maintained those changes. In this respect, the dietary change which was most successful was eating less fatty foods (93%), while the change least often maintained was eating less sugary foods (81%).