Eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day could prevent more than one in 20 premature deaths, the government revealed today.
Nearly 70,000 lives could be saved if Britons improved their diets, a report found, and some 42,200 premature deaths could be avoided if people consumed enough fruit and vegetables.
The Cabinet Office report, Food: An Analysis of the Issues, was commissioned by the prime minister as a precursor to a government review of food policy and a new strategy on tackling obesity.
The findings suggest that the 5 A DAY message is failing to hit home with enough UK consumers.
The average adult consumes too much salt, saturated fat and added sugar, and not enough fruit and vegetables. Those who die prematurely would have lived for almost 10 years longer if they followed dietary advice, the report claimed.
Obesity rates have trebled in the last 20 years and it was announced last year that the figure is set to reach 40 per cent by 2025 and 60 per cent by 2050.
The report said: “There can be few areas of public policy where the benefits to lives, health and well-being are potentially as dramatic as they could be in diet and nutrition.”
No comments yet