Millions of adults and children in the UK are risking poor health and even serious illness because of major shortfalls in their nutrition, according to an important new report out today
The researchers found that a quarter of women have inadequate intakes of iron, more than 50% lack the antioxidant selenium and nearly one in 10 men are low in magnesium. Intakes of iron, magnesium, zinc, iodine and selenium are woefully low in adolescent girls and one in five pre-school children have abnormally low iron stores. A significant number of elderly people are also iron deficient. The team discovered that blood levels of vitamin D are too low to sustain normal bone health in a quarter of adults while fish intakes have declined in the last decade and are now too low to meet recommendations for omega-3 essential fatty acids.
The new report- ‘Towards a Healthier Britain 2010’ – reviewed the key areas where nutrition could be improved, with independent nutrition experts Dr Carrie Ruxton and Dr Pamela Mason examining the evidence from national dietary surveys. In addition, more than 70 scientific papers were explored looking at the potential role of vitamin supplementation.
Time to think about a multivitamin?
