Diet and Nutrition

The Health of Glasgow

Glasgow has many acknowledged health problems and inequalities. While these largely mirror those of the rest of Scotland, the City has a particularly strong association with poorer health and shorter life expectancy than other areas.

Environmental Health's Role in Improving Diet and Nutrition

The Environmental Health service is taking steps to encourage small independent caterers within Glasgow to make changes to the foods that they offer with the aim of reducing calories, fat, salt and sugar. It is hoped that, by making these changes, individuals will have more choices when eating out.

In 2015 a team within environmental health carried out a year long project. The key focus of the project was upon practices prevalent in takeaway outlets which may result in dishes having a higher level of saturated fat than might otherwise be the case if produced differently. Overall it was demonstrated that environmental health/food safety officers can influence businesses to alter their ingredients/practices. It was also shown that by making small changes, products with a significantly reduced saturated fat level can be produced.

The findings from this report can be accessed here:  Saturated Fat Report [1Mb].