This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Food and Health Co-ordinator appointed
03/10/2001
Scotland's first Food and Health Co-ordinator begins her
job in earnest today with the priority of making healthy
food more widely available in all parts of the country.
Gillian Kynoch's role as Food Tsar was announced today
by Health Minister Susan Deacon. It is the Executive's
latest initiative in the drive towards change and
improvement in the national health and it comes as evidence
shows that people are eating more healthy food and heart
disease rates are falling significantly.
Ms Kynoch, an experienced community dietician with major
expertise in public health nutrition and health promotion,
will work with the food industry, including producers and
retailers, to expand on a range of current ideas that have
included free fruit in nurseries and schools, and the
expansion of school breakfast clubs.
Her appointment is supported by a doubling of the
Executive's investment in the Scottish Community Diet
Project (SCDP) to £1.2 million over the next three years.
This will help the SCDP expand its work in low income
communities to promote healthy eating, for example through
community cafes and food co-ops.
Announcing details of this twin-pronged attack, Ms
Deacon said:
"Scots are eating more healthily and our health is
getting better as a result. Between 1995 and 1998, there
was a six per cent increase in fruit consumption and a 14
per cent fall in early deaths from heart disease. That is
good news but there is more work still to be done.
"The appointment of Scotland's first Food and Health
Co-ordinator will accelerate those improvements, put
healthy eating at the heart of our health promotion work
and help support the many individuals and organisations
throughout Scotland who are working hard to improve the
nation's diet.
"Gillian Kynoch has a range of experience and expertise
in health promotion and nutrition. She is well equipped to
make a major contribution to creating a healthier nation
through a healthier diet. As well as working with the
Health Education Board for Scotland and the Food Standards
Agency, she will work with major food producers to
transform Scotland's eating habits and ensure that our
children are not burdened with the misery of heart disease,
cancer, stroke, and other diet-related health problems.
"Today - as a further sign of our commitment to help
revolutionise Scotland's diet and work towards the targets
laid down in the Scottish Diet Action Plan - I am
announcing that we will provide funding for the Scottish
Community Diet Project for a further three years. And we
will double our investment in that project to ensure that
even more Scots benefit from its initiatives.
"Since its establishment, the award-winning SCDP has
carried out some excellent work within our most deprived
communities. They have taken forward a range of new
initiatives - from a lunch club tackling social isolation
and low income among older people in Glasgow, to a family
centre in the Borders developing cooking skills and
confidence. These local groups have all been able to
benefit from SCDP investment.
"The additional resources I am announcing today will not
only be invested directly into these kinds of local
initiatives, but also used to help projects share their
experiences, spread good practice and improve information
and advice.
"I am confident that the two major announcements I am
making today will help encourage more Scots to adopt a
healthier diet - both for themselves and their children,
and continue our progress towards becoming a healthier
nation."
Gillian Kynoch, said:
"People want to help themselves to good health. My job
is to help make the healthy choice the easy choice. A key
part of my work will be to build effective partnerships
between health interests and the food industry to ensure
that supply and demand for healthy food go hand in hand. It
is not enough that people are aware of the benefits of
healthy eating. They also need to be able to access a wide
range of healthy foods - whether that be in the local
supermarket or in their work canteen.
"Another aim is to make existing advice clearer. For
example, many dietitians are finding that the public know
that they should be aiming to eat five portions of fruit
and vegetables a day, but are not sure which foods count or
how much a portion is. I know this is something the Food
Standards Agency has also been working on and I look
forward to working with them on it. People are looking for
help with how to make changes and providing this help is a
major priority.
"Since the Scottish Diet Action Plan was published,
great progress has been made in improving Scotland's diet.
This has been as much due to the efforts of everyday people
as national organisations and agencies. My task is to
harness that widespread interest and enthusiasm, build on
existing momentum, and support people to make small,
essential changes to their diet so that generations of the
future can benefit from the lessons of the past."
Graeme Millar, chairman of the Scottish Consumer
Council, which oversees the SCDP's work, said:
"We are delighted that the Scottish Executive is backing
the success of the project with extra resources. This will
allow us to increase the scale of our operations and extend
the range and the nature of the support we offer. It will
help communities across Scotland to play their part in
breaking down the barriers to improved diet and better
health."
Bill Gray, Project Officer for the SCDP said:
"Many thousands of Scots are already benefiting every
day from the hundreds of local initiatives such as
community cafes, food co-ops and breakfast clubs which have
been established by local communities and organisations
with the help and support of the Scottish Community Diet
Project. This investment will enable us to develop that
work even further and ensure more Scots than ever before
are not only aware of the benefits of a healthy diet but
also have access to healthy food."
Dr George Paterson, Director of the Food Standards
Agency Scotland, said:
"Improving the nation's eating habits is a high priority
for the Food Standards Agency and we are especially keen to
help the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in society
improve their diet. However, change requires co-operation
and action on many fronts, which is why the appointment of
a Diet Action Co-ordinator is so important.
"The Food Standards Agency has an important role to play
in allowing people to make informed choices about their
diet. We have very recently carried out new research in
this area to try and end the confusion which currently
surrounds healthy eating advice. We look forward to sharing
our findings with Gillian Kynoch and working closely with
her in the near future."
Graham Robertson Acting Chief Executive of HEBS (Health
Education Board for Scotland) said:
"HEBS welcomes the appointment of Scotland's Food and
Health co-ordinator and we are looking forward to working
with Gillian. HEBS has always been committed to promoting
healthy eating and it will continue to be one of our
priorities.
"It is clear that people in Scotland care about their
own and their families' health and there are encouraging
signs of improvement in the nation's diet. However, much
still has to be done and this new appointment will provide
a focus for all our work whether at national or community
level, in the catering industry or in the home."
BACKGROUND
1. Gillian Kynoch was born and brought up in Keith,
Banffshire. She trained at the then Robert Gordon's
Institute of Technology in Aberdeen and gained wide
clinical and managerial experience working in London,
Liverpool, Manchester, and the West Midlands. Her main
clinical experience is in primary care and she has a major
expertise in public health nutrition and health
promotion.
Before taking up her new post, she was worked for Forth
Valley Primary Care NHS Trust, focusing on improving the
availability and promotion of healthier food in schools,
local authorities and low income areas. Recently she has
been working to develop the prevention and treatment of
obesity and weight problems in Scotland. She has extensive
experience in interagency collaborative work, public sector
catering, local authority policy development, and health
promotion.
2. The Scottish Diet Action Plan, published in 1996,
recommends action by a range of key interests, including
the Executive, the Health Education Board for Scotland,
schools, caterers and others to promote awareness of
healthy eating issues.
3. The Scottish Community Diet Project was established
in October 1996 to work with low income communities to take
forward the recommendations in the Scottish Diet Action
Plan. This widely acclaimed Project, which was awarded the
prestigious BBC Derek Cooper Award for the most outstanding
contribution to improving diet in Great Britain, was
developed by the Scottish Consumer Council and the Scottish
Executive and is currently being supported for three years
through more than £500,000 in Scottish Executive
funding.
As part of today's announcement the Executive has now
agreed to continue to provide funding for the Scottish
Community Diet Project for a further three years. The
Minister has also agreed to increase funding for the
Project to £153,558 (for the second half of 2001/2) and
£381,350, £390,346 and £391,262 for the years 2002/3-2004/5
respectively.
In line with our commitment in the Scottish Health Plan,
the amount of SCDP resources allocated to its Small Grants
Award Scheme will be increased from £50,000 to £75,000.
Details of the successful bids will be announced shortly.
Previous grants have supported initiatives such as healthy
food tasting sessions, breakfast clubs, community
garden/allotment schemes, establishment and development of
a healthy food store, healthy home food delivery services
and training and supporting local people to participate in
food initiatives in rural communities.
4. Latest Scottish Health Survey published on 4 December
2000 shows that some progress is being made in improving
the national's diet. Since the latest survey was published
in 1995 there has been a:
- six per cent increase in fruit consumption (at
least once a day or more)
- nearly 10 per cent increase in potatoes, pasta or
rice consumption (five times a week or more); and
- 2.5 per cent reduction in the number of people who
add salt to food at the table.
5. For examples of what constitutes five portions of
fruit and vegetables a day
www.bda.uk.com (click on Gimme 5 logo. source Fact Sheet No.5)