THE PROMOTION OF HEALTHY EATING - FOOD AVAILABILITY AND CHOICE IN SCOTTISH ISLAND COMMUNITIES

Communities in rural areas are in receipt of health education messages on healthy eating aimed at the population. These messages are invaria bly composed without regard to where people reside, and, in particular , to the availability of, and access to, foodstuffs in rural areas, In this paper the authors present data derived from a participative heal th needs assessment on the topic of food, diet and health, The researc h was conducted in a number of islands of the Western Isles of Scotlan d and comprised seven focus groups, 33 semi-structured interviews, one community and one policy workshop, and a final community feedback ses sion, The needs assessment demonstrated a dichotomy between local expe riences of food availability, island food cultures and the contents of healthy eating advice. As a result of the research, local people and health care professionals developed a range of activities on the topic of the traditional island diet, People noted the potentially positive elements of this diet for health but also the possibility of promotin g social cohesion through the consideration of food and diet histories . In addition, lobbying at a national level was also identified as nec essary to the development of a 'healthy food policy'.