Children and young people in Scotland are being asked to complete a survey about what they eat. The research being carried out by the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems at the University of Edinburgh and Taylor McKenzie on behalf of Food Standards Scotland (FSS) will help to improve the actions taken in supporting healthier choices.

Dr Fiona Comrie, Senior Public Health Nutrition Adviser at FSS, explained:

“This important piece of work will be the first time in over a decade that we have collected information on what children and young people eat and drink in Scotland. In that time there has been a wave of changes to where we eat, and what is on offer.

“What surrounds us, shapes us and in Scotland we are surrounded by less healthy food and drink options. This makes it challenging for families in Scotland to eat well.”

Many families are struggling to purchase healthier options which may either be not available in great supply where they live or more expensive in comparison to some less healthy foods.

The survey will go out to about 17,000 children and young people between the ages of 2 and 15.

Those randomly selected for the survey will receive a purple envelope in the post inviting them to share information, via an online questionnaire, on what they eat and drink. Parents or carers of younger children will be asked to complete the survey on their behalf.

Professor Linda Bauld, Chief Social Policy Advisor to the Scottish Government, said:

“Improving our children’s health by ensuring everyone can get affordable, healthy food has never been more important.

“When where we live is awash with unhealthy food, and healthy options are out of reach, it makes it harder to eat well; this can lead to poorer health. This survey will help Food Standards Scotland and others identify where the issues are that need to be addressed to improve our children’s health”

Click on this link to find out more information about the survey, how to take part, and what is done with the information: Dietary Monitoring in Scotland

Professor Lindsay Jaacks, Project Lead at University of Edinburgh, said:

“We want to include lots of different families across the whole of Scotland, so we are encouraging people to look out for a purple envelope and take part in the survey. The online survey will not take too long to complete and will provide us with helpful information to support the Scottish Government’s ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030.”