ARE DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DIETARY-FAT REDUCTION ACHIEVABLE

Despite several sets of dietary guidelines aimed at reducing fat intak es in the UK populations the actual fat intake in the UK has remained remarkably constant over the last decade. It is therefore of utmost im portance to understand why the advice of the 1980s was not taken on bo ard by the nation, to enable the achievement of current nutritional ta rgets for dietary fat set for 2005. The nature of the diets of those i ndividuals in the UK who have low fat intakes in line with the dietary goals are considered here, with the aim to increase our understanding of how the goals can be achieved in the free-living population. This paper postulates that a low fat diet will be easier to achieve, more p alatable and hence more acceptable to the consumer if the dietary fat is replaced with a mixture of energy from sugar and starch. Further re search is required to gain a greater understanding of what type of die tary composition will enable the free-living population to achieve a r eduction in their dietary fat intake. This in turn will allow the diss emination of appropriate nutritional advice in the future and inform p roduct development initiatives in the food industry.