Diet and healthy weight: monitoring report 2019

Key points

• In 2018, 65% of adults aged 16 and over were overweight, including 28% who were obese. Levels of overweight and obesity for adults aged 16-64 increased between 1995 and 2008, but have remained broadly stable since then.
• Since 1998, the proportion of children aged 2-15 at risk of overweight (including obesity) has fluctuated between 26% and 33% (29% in 2018). In 2018, 13% of children aged 2 to 15 were at risk of overweight, with a further 16% at risk of obesity.
• At the end of 2018, there were 304,375 people diagnosed with diabetes in Scotland recorded on local diabetes registers. This represented 5.6% of the population of all ages. Of all cases, 87.9% (267,615) were Type 2 diabetes. Prevalence of Type 2 diabetes continues to increase steadily.
• In 2018, 22% of adults aged 16 and over met the five-a-day recommendation for consumption of fruit and vegetables. This figure has remained fairly constant since 2003.
• In 2018, 15% of children aged 2-15 met the five-a-day recommendation for consumption of fruit and vegetables. This figure shows little variation over time, lying between 12% and 15% each year since 2008.
• In 2017/18, the percentage of total food energy from all fats was 38.5%, above the Scottish Dietary Goal of no more than 35%. The percentage of total food energy contributed by free sugars (13.8%) also remained higher than the Scottish Dietary Goal of less than 5% of energy.
• Between 2014 and 2018, the volume of sales of regular take-home soft drinks reduced by 11%, whilst the volume of sales of diet take-home soft drinks increased by 20%.
• Between 2014 and 2018 sales take-home biscuits and confectionery have increased by 5% and sales of cakes and pastries have increased by 10%.
• In 2019, 776 catering establishments held the Healthy Living award (HLA) or HLA Plus award.