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REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON MONITORING SCOTTISH DIETARY TARGETS
5. Surveys Outwith Scotland that Include Dietary Methodology
5.1 The Health Survey for England
5.1.1 The HSE is an annual survey commissioned by the DoH and is designed to monitor health trends in England. The survey focuses on different health issues each year and, since 2001, a fruit and vegetable questionnaire has been included as a core module with the aim of obtaining annual trend data.
5.1.2 The fruit and vegetable module was designed to assess levels of fruit and vegetable consumption within the population and to compare it with the Five-a-day message (
www.doh.gov.uk). The module includes selected foods and expresses consumption in portions as defined within the Five-a-day programme. The respondents are asked about their consumption of these foods over a single day, defined as the 24 hours ending the previous midnight.
5.1.3 This module has been included in the SHS 2003 and will provide additional information for monitoring progress towards the SDAP target for fruit and vegetables.
5.2 Survey for Lifestyles, Attitudes and Nutrition (Republic of Ireland)
5.2.1 The SLAN is the national nutrition survey of the Republic of Ireland. It is managed by the National Nutritional Surveillance Centre (NNSC) which is part of the Department of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology at University College Dublin. The NNSC has been given a grant in the region of 500,000 to cover four years of surveillance, data collection and further development.
5.2.2 The sample population for the survey is adults aged 18+ and is taken from each of the twenty-six counties of the Republic of Ireland so it is representative. The total sample size for 2003 was 5992.
5.2.3 The SLAN consists of a self-completion questionnaire with sections on general health, lifestyle choices including physical activity and tobacco use, a semi-quantitative FFQ and additional questions on dietary habits, special diets, food supplement use, food labelling, methods for cooking vegetables and whether people think their diet could be healthier.
5.2.4 The FFQ component of the SLAN is an adapted version of the semi-quantitative FFQ used in the EPIC study and includes 149 food items and is capable of estimating nutrient intakes.
The Working Group recommended that: As this methodology has the potential to provide an excellent framework for monitoring progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets, as well as offering good value for money, its use in Scotland should be considered. Alternatively, the FFQ component of the SLAN (or an equivalent FFQ) could be used to replace the current eating habits module of the SHS.
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5.3 Monitoring Public Health Nutrition in Europe: Nutritional Indicators and Determinants of Health Status
5.3.1 The aim of this programme is to establish a European surveillance system that will allow comparability of health status across the EU. The European Community Health Indicators (ECHI) framework consists of over fifty projects covering a variety of topics relevant to health, including nutrition. It is intended that the monitoring will integrate and co-ordinate with existing systems in participating countries.
5.3.2 A range of indicators which impact on public health nutrition were identified e.g. environmental factors, food and nutrient intake, nutritional status, physical activity, socio-demographic factors, inequality, genetic factors and interactions, life stages and vulnerable / critical periods. After a review process it was agreed that the ECHI framework for food and nutrient intake will cover:
Energy from food
% energy from fat
% energy from saturated fatty acids
% energy from protein
Consumption of bread / cereals
Consumption of fruit excluding fruit juice
Consumption of vegetables excluding potatoes
Consumption of fish
Consumption of micronutrients
Breastfeeding
Contaminants
5.3.3 Progress towards these indicators will be measured using current health surveys, household budget surveys and individual nutrition surveys and data will be compared between countries.
5.3.4 Although the recommendations in the Monitoring Public Health in Europe programme are for a UK sized country, countries with a similar (or smaller) population to Scotland e.g. Sweden and Norway, are involved so it would be possible to implement them here as well. Monitoring of the Scottish Dietary Targets for fats, bread, breakfast cereal, fruit and vegetables and fish will provide data that can be contributed to the programme without further expense.
The Working Group recommended that: |
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