Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSMost Scottish adults are 'fat and unfit'
Nearly every adult in Scotland is living an unhealthy lifestyle, according to Scottish scientists
Researchers at the University of Glasgow estimate that 97.5% of the Scottish population are “living dangerously” with the majority likely to be too fat because of a lack of exercise and poor diet - not to mention smoking and drinking.
The university’s Dr David Conway, who led the study, said the findings are based on information gathered from 6,574 people during the 2003 Scottish Health Survey.
“Considering five major risk factors to health - cigarette smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, poor diet, physical inactivity, and [being] overweight - nearly the whole adult population [97.5%] has at least one behavioural risk factor,” he wrote in the online journal BMC Public Health.
Scotland has long been known to have poor rates of good health and has more people dying from cancer, heart disease and stroke than any other place in the UK.
The Centre for Public Policy for Regions said people in Scotland have between £212 and £267 more spent on each person than in England.
Major disease death rates have improved dramatically in Scotland in the past 10 years but are still higher than other UK regions.
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Readers' comments (1)
mike | 11-Jun-2010 10:51 am
I think this is true right across the UK, obesity, health abuse (smoking etc) and fitness levels are appalling.
I think it is about bloody time we stopped subsidising Scotland though, every single person in the whole of the UK should have the same amount spent on them.
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