English diet could save the lives of 2,000 Scots

Eating a more “English diet” could save the lives of thousands of Scots a year, new research suggests.

Figures show that people in Scotland eat more saturated fat and less fruit and vegetables than their counterparts in England, increasing their risk of death from heart disease, stroke and cancer.

While scientists said the English diet was far from perfect, if people in Scotland followed its example more than 2,000 lives a year could be saved.

If Wales and Northern Ireland also followed suit, about 3,700 deaths a year in the UK could be delayed or avoided, according to a study in the journal BMJ Open.

Researchers from Oxford University looked at death rates for heart disease, stroke and ten cancers linked to diet, including gullet and bowel cancers, in all four countries between 2007 and 2009.

They also assessed differences in diet between the four UK nations using information from the Family Food Survey.

This showed that people in Scotland and Northern Ireland consistently ate more saturated fat and salt and fewer fruits and vegetables a day than people in England.

The researchers then calculated what difference in death rates could be expected from population changes in diet using a mathematical model.

This showed that, in Scotland, more than 6,000 deaths over three years could have been prevented or delayed if the population had eaten the average diet in England.

Diet was estimated to account for about 40 per cent of the difference in mortality between England and Scotland, and 81 per cent of the gap with Wales and Northern Ireland.

While some of the mortality gap in Scotland might be explained by higher smoking rates and alcohol consumption and lower levels of exercise, it is thought that the so-called “Scottish effect” may also have an impact. This is the name which has long been given to describe the unexplained higher mortality rates in Scotland compared with the rest of the UK.

But Dr Peter Scarborough, from the university’s Department of Public Health, said it was clear that diet was a large factor in the differences between England and other parts of the UK.

“The chief dietary factor that is driving this mortality gap is fruit and vegetables,” he said.

“Consumption of fruit and vegetables in Scotland is around 12 per cent lower than in England, and consumption in Northern Ireland is about 20 per cent lower than in England.

“Other important factors are salt and saturated fat consumption, which are lower in England.”

The researchers suggested that policies to help improve diet, such as taxes on salt and saturated fat and subsidies on fruit and vegetables should be considered.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Scotland’s cancer mortality rates are decreasing – down almost 12 per cent over the past ten years – and we are continuing to reduce the number of Scots dying from these preventable conditions.”