THE North of Ireland is far behind Britain in terms of diet, new figures have revealed.
Just 4 per cent of Northern Irish children are getting enough fruit and vegetables according to the study.
Other statistics revealed saw that the North also fell behind in areas like fibre consumption and vitamin D levels – while confectionary consumption was higher than in Britain.
The news that 96 per cent of children aged between 11 and 18 years were far below their British counterparts in fruit and veg consumption has urged the North’s Health Minister Jim Wells to speak out about the NI Assembly’s stance on nutrition.
“The data provided in the study helps us see how people’s diets measure up to the Government recommendations,” he said. “It will be extremely valuable in evaluating our existing policies – as well as setting direction for the future.”
Other figures to emerge from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey revealed that 62 per cent of adults in the North of Ireland are overweight, while the lowest income groups have a lower fruit and veg consumption than the rest of the Northern Irish population.
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