People's health is affected greatly by what they eat.
In Scotland, eating habits are the second major cause, after smoking, of poor health. The national diet contributes to a range of serious illnesses which include coronary heart disease, certain cancers, strokes, osteoporosis and diabetes'.
The purpose of this site is to provide you with key information about the programme of action to influence and encourage the nation to adopt a healthier diet.
In 2008 we published Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) an action plan to improve diet, increase physical activity and tackle Obesity.
As you will be aware obesity is a growing problem in scotland and one of the main action points in HEAL was to publish a long term statergy to tackle obesity, in 2010 we published Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotland: A Route Map Towards Healthy Weight
To help take forward the Route Map the Scottish Government published the Obesity Route Map Action Plan, which details the actions across Government, that with our partners, will be taken forward to address the increasing prevalence of obesity in Scotland.
In addition to the Action Plan the Scottish Government have also published a suite of 16 pre-existing indictors chosen to best monitor progress in delivery of the Action Plan. If we are successful in implementing the Route Map and the Action Plan then we should expect to see trends highlighted in the Indicators Paper change over time
We are funding a number of programmes which are aimed at helping people to make healthier choices in what they eat and to generally lead a healthier lifestyle, additionaly our pulic awarness campaign Take life on one step at a time not only focuses on healthy eating but also, physical activity and alcohol.
The take life on website is full of hints and tips on how to eat healthier from make simple swaps, eating out and takeaways and easy ways to your 5 a day.