Health Report : Are guidelines good for our health?
Tucking into our turkey dinner and cracking open the bubbly this Christmas, healthy eating is likely to be the last thing on our minds. But in January we may want advice to mend our ways, and the Government is happy to help.
The Department of Health has for decades issued advice on how to live more healthily based on evidence collected by their own scientists and more research from all around the world. Most recently, in February it recommended we cut down on the consumption of red meat to reduce the risk of bowel cancer. Then in July the Government made its first UK-wide recommendation that we should all exercise for 30 minutes a day for five days every week.
Much of the health guidance given out by governments across the world has its roots in research carried out by international bodies like the World Health Organisation – a United Nations organisation designed to improve health – and the World Cancer Research Fund. So guidelines around the world all have a similar health message – eat more fruit and vegetables, have less fat and sugar and do more exercise. Many of us have a basic idea of what we need to do to stay healthy, but evidence suggests that we arenot always that good at following up on the Government’s advice. In a report published in 2008, research by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) found although British people were eating less fat and red meat and more fruit and vegetables, they were still taking in too much salt and sugar. Only a third of men and a quarter of women in this country were found to meet the Department of Health’s target of 30 minutes of exercise five times a week, while 60 per cent of men and 44 per cent of women were drinking more alcohol than the recommended limit.
Government guidance on food intake
These are the UK recommended daily amounts of food and examples of what you would need to eat to reach the targets:
- Salt No more than 6g (1 tsp) or a combination of four slices of bread (2g), two 25g packets of Hula Hoops (1g), one 200g portion of beans (1.5g), one 30g portion of cheese (0.5g) and one rasher of bacon (1g).
- Saturated fat (in butter, cheese and cream, cakes and biscuits, sausages and bacon) Men should eat no more than 30g while women should eat no more than 20g. Two 10g servings of butter (10.8g), two sausages (4.9g) and two chocolate McVitie’s Hobnobs (4.4g) would take you over the limit.
- Fruit/veg At least 5x80g portions, such as one banana, one apple, a medium tomato, one 150ml glass of fruit juice and three heaped tablespoons of peas.
- Sugar No more than 60g. One standard Mars Bar (with 45g of sugar) and two coffees each with two sugars (16g sugar total) would exceed the limit.
- Fluids 1.2litres – this can be any nonalcoholic drink but the Government says water, milk and fruit juice are the healthiest options.
- Red and processed meat Eating too much has been linked to bowel cancer. Red meat includes beef, lamb or pork and processed meat examples are sausages, salami, bacon, ham and pâtés. There are no recommended daily amounts but people who eat more than 90g a day are advised to cut down to 70g – around two slices of beef, lamb or pork, two sausages or two rashers of bacon.
- Oily fish (examples are mackerel, tuna, salmon or sardines) At least one portion per week.
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