Scots struggling to eat five portions a day

The amount of fruit and vegetables Scottish adults eat each day fell to its lowest level last year, a new survey has found.

Scots consumed three portions per day on average in 2016, with consumption having ranged from 3.1 to 3.3 since 2003, the Scottish Health Sur- vey 2016 found. Only one in five (20 per cent) of adults who responded ate the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables the previous day, the joint lowest percentagesince2003.morethan one in ten (12 per cent) adults had eaten no fruit or vegetables the day before, the highest level since the survey began.

Women were more likely to meet the five-a-day recommendation than men, with 22 per cent meeting the target, compared to 17 per cent of men, the lowest level recorded for the latter.

Children aged between two and 15 ate 2.8 portions of fruit and vegetables a day on average last year.

Thirteen per cent of them had eaten the recommended five portions on the previous day, while 9 per cent of them had eaten none.

However the study found that adults are consuming fewer biscuits, non-diet soft drinks and more oily fish.

The survey questioned 4,323 adults and 1,561 children across Scotland and aims to give an overview of the nation’s health and well-being.