Changes in Diet over 40 Years and Their Significance

Abstract

During and after the Second World War, the British diet was severely limited. Sweets, sugar and fatty foods were among the foods in short supply, but as soon as they became freely available again, consumption of these and other enjoyable foods rose rapidly. An increased interest in health in the 1980s led to a reversal of a number of these changes. Quantifies the changes which occurred in the 1980s. Concludes that the proportion of fat in the British diet remains high, because although intakes of fat have fallen, so too have intakes of sugar and starchy foods. Nevertheless, the amount of saturated fat has fallen substantially towards the target set in The Health of the Nation.