National Diet Nutrition Survey: headline results from year 1 (2008/2009)

Monday 2 August 2010

The report of the first year of the NDNS rolling programme (February 2008 to March 2009) can be viewed at the links below. This report focuses on food consumption and nutrient intakes for adults aged 19 to 64 years and for children aged 18 months to 3 years, 4 to 10 years and 11 to 18 years.

The key findings of the survey are:

• People are eating less saturated fat, trans fat and added sugar than they were 10 years ago, when the survey was last carried out.
• Saturated fat intakes in adults have dropped slightly to 12.8% of food energy, but are still above the recommended level of 11%. Whereas, the population’s trans fat intakes, having also fallen slightly, are well within recommended levels.
• People are still eating too much added sugar, currently 12.5% of food energy intake compared to the recommended 11%.
• A third of men and women are now eating the recommended ‘5-a-day’ fruit and veg.
• People are still not eating enough fibre, which is essential for healthy digestion. On average intakes are 14g per day for adults, some way below the recommended 18g.
• Consumption of oily fish, which is the main source of omega 3 fatty acids, remains below the recommended one portion per week.
• Iron intakes among teenage girls and women are still low, which can lead to iron deficiency and anaemia. However, overall, vitamin and mineral intakes among the population are slightly improved.

The Agency has published a revised version of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey’s Year 1 Report, along with an errata note summarising the changes. This is because some errors were identified in the Food Consumption and Nutrient Intake tables. The Agency stresses that the errors found in the data do not change any of the report’s headline figures, nor do they alter the interpretation of any of the findings.