Heart disease

[dekhay]

What is heart disease such a problems in Scotland?

[good2skull]

I visited a friend who was living in Glasgow, the local chippy was full every evening and the "special" was sausage, pizza and chips except the pizza was also deep fried. And yes you could purchase the fabled deep fired mars bar. So perhaps the heart diease thing is down to poor diet. Certainly my Scottish relatives think that mashed potatoes in gravy qualifies as fresh veg.

[incitatus]

There may be a genetic component, but yes, diet, no sunshine, no fresh veg, a nation of heavy drinkers and smokers. What do you expect? Sounds prejudiced, and I apologise to St Andrews children, but the stats bear this out. Cigarette and alcohol consumption is very high per head in scotland.

[ravenhair]

Your answer would suggest that none of us up here would know one end of a carrot from another. I think you have both omitted one very important factor - that of poverty and, dare I say it, class. If you consider the statistics more closely, it is the poorer sector of the population who subsist on a diet of fried foods, no fresh veg and so on. This, of course, in turn leads to a higher rate of heart disease. How best to tackle this problem is of course another matter altogether.

[good2skull]

Ravenhair, I dont agree with the reference to poverty, pasta & veg with a glass of tap water is surely cheaper than a kebab and can of lager or two. Could it be more of an educational matter ? Also availability of good food is a potential parameter; comparing what you can buy in a supermarket in central Salford and one in Basingstoke is quite an eye opener. That said fruit & veg markets are everywhere

[archiemac]

I wish fruit and veg markets were everywhere in Scotland but they aren't - not to the same extent as in England. I have been to poorer areas in Scotland which are served by one supermarket, and the choice of fruit and veg has been appallingly limited. By contrast, there are aisles and aisles of crisps, sweets and biscuits. Whether the supermarkets are catering to local tastes or severely limiting them is up for debate, but you can't eat what you can't buy. I live in a relatively wealthy area, and I have to search out good fruit and veg. There's just not as abundant here because they are mainly grown in the South.

[good2skull]

Right - just what I meant by the supermarket in Salford and one in Basingstoke thing. I think it is catering to local taste to a great extent and does nothing to raise the nation's health or awareness regarding good food. Bit of a vicious circle then.......

[incitatus]

I know what you mean about salford! ten years of Salford Shopping City an you forget what a lettuce is. The difficulty is probably an educational one as much as a supply one. Demand can trigger supply. And the price argument doesnt hold up provided you factor in fags and booze. Without, though it is more dodgy as bad beefburgers are very cheap. But the correlation with "class" is strong, as Salford, Liverpool and Leeds are all heart disease blackspots. And you can link them all to diet, fags and booze.

[ravenhair]

In answer to your comment, good2skull, that's my very point. You and I both know that pasta and water is cheaper and healthier than a fish supper and a can of Irn-Bru. The whole problem is educating the poorer, lower-class sectors of Scottish society to think like that. Sadly ironic, really.

[nicrite]

Scotland is the home of the deep fried Mars bar. Need I say more?

[ianess]

My cardiologist says that it`s all to do with the Scottish lifestyle and climate to the point that he thinks that heart disease in Scotland is almost a genetic thing.

Personally, as a 19 stone couch potato ex bus driver I think he could have a point.  Exercise is using one finger to type this reply.