A nationwide nutrition survey by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has found that the majority of people are still not eating enough fresh fruit – despite a number of high-profile government campaigns.

The FSA report revealed that just 35 per cent of adults – and 15 per cent of teenagers – ate five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

In addition, the survey showed that the UK’s average body mass has increased, meaning 60 per cent of adults are overweight or obese.

The Cabinet Office estimated last year that diet-related ill-health cost the NHS £6 billion every year. Some 70,000 people are also thought to lose their life as a result of having a bad diet.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said that it was at least encouraging that there was now much more awareness that eating five-a-day was one of the best ways to improve health.

"The challenge is to convert that awareness into actual increases in intakes," the spokesperson added.

An office fruit box is a good way to reduce workers’ temptation to snack on crisps and chocolate, thus helping them to maintain a healthy weight.

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Office Fruit Blog-2010. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.