A new survey has found that 25 percent of Britain's population don't eat any fruit and veg at all - let alone the recommended five portions. Dr Doug Wright is medical director at the insurance company Aviva UK, which carried out the research. VoR put it to him that many people were simply ignoring what the medical professionals recommend.
"It's good that people are being honest and aware enough about it," Dr Wright said. Still, half of the adult population in the UK is now overweight or obese and according to the latest survey published by Aviva, one in four people are not eating a single portion of fruit or vegetable in a day. "The most striking finding is the number of people that are so far away from the recommendation of five-a-day of fruit and veg. That's a huge number and quite worrying. It just shows the difficulty we have in the UK of people following some simple advice." It will come as no surprise that the main culprits of Britain's obesity problem are fatty foods and sugary drinks, which Dr Wright said were often close to hand. "These are the things which are readily accessible, they taste nice, they're easy to get hold of. A third of people surveyed have at least one portion of chocolate or crisps evey day." Mental health implications: The medical director also warned that gaining weight can have mental health implications. "Losing weight and becoming physically fit are people's number one health ambition, but what we're seeing is they actually aren't following that through. We saw a very strong correlation between being overweight and feeling less happy," he said. Asked how to get people to take the health risks of obesity seriously, Dr Wright said he was encouraging people to focus on the short-term effects unhealthy living can have, as well as the much-documented longer term impact. "What I'd like to bring to people's attention is that it can have an impact on the here and now. It changes how you feel, whether you feel mentally well in yourself. "Taking some of those simple steps now will make a difference in the near-term as well as manage some of those longer-term risks." (VoR), Tim Ecott , Source: Voice of Russia
