Summary This review describes and present the findings of a survey of the diet and nutrition of young people aged 4–18 years living in private households in the UK, carried out between January 1997 and January 1998. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) of young people aged 4–18 years forms part of the NDNS programme, which aims to provide a comprehensive, cross‐sectional picture of the dietary habits, nutrient intakes and nutritional status of the British population by studying representative samples of defined age groups. The survey components included a detailed interview covering dietary habits, lifestyle and socio‐demographic characteristics; a 7‐day weighed dietary record; a 7‐day physical activity diary; measurements of height, weight, mid‐upper arm, waist and hip circumferences, and blood pressure; a blood sample for analysis of a range of nutritional status indices; a single urine sample; and an oral health interview and dental examination. A total of 1701 young people provided 7‐day dietary records, representing a response rate of 64%. Results have been published in two volumes covering the diet and nutrition survey and the oral health survey. The reports present results for boys and girls separately in four age groups: 4–6 years; 7–10 years; 11–14 years and 15–18 years. Results are also presented by region and by socio‐economic characteristics. This review summarises some of the main findings of the diet and nutrition survey, including: the proportion of young people who ate selected foods; energy and nutrient intakes compared with UK Dietary Reference Values; nutritional status; physical measurements; and physical activity.

I . The total food and drink available for human consumption in the United Kingdom would provide approximately 13 MJ (3100 kcal)/person per d, while the energy intake recommended for the population is approximately 9.6 MJ (2300 kcal)/person per d. A proportion of this substantial difference must be due to wastage in the home as well as in catering establishments and during the storage, distribution and processing of food.2. As part of a general investigation of this problem, a representative sample of 1000 British households was asked to collect all the potentiallyedible food wasted in their homes during I week, and to keep a record of the food, other than commercial pet food, which they gave to pets and wild birds. A total of 672 households co-operated fully, 338 in summer and 334 in winter. Each food sample received was weighed, and its energy content was determined calorimetrically. 3.Significantly more waste food was collected in summer than in winter, equivalent to 9.3 MJ (2220 kcal)/ household per week and 7-1 MJ (1700 kcal)/household per week respectively. In terms of energy, cereals, fat and meat wastage predominated, while in terms of weight, milk was more important and fat less so.4. Considerable quantities of otherwise edible food were also given to pets and birds, accounting on average for a further 2-4 MJ (570 kcal) and 3-0 MJ (710 kcal)/household per week in summer and winter respectively. The energy content of all food wasted in the home therefore averaged I 1.7 MJ (2790 kcal)/ household per week in summer and IO'I MJ (2410 kcal)/household per week in winter, equivalent to 06 MJ (150 kcal) and 0.5 MJ (130 kcal)/person per d respectively. This is less than one-quarter of the gap between food supplies and the amount of food thought to be eaten in the UK.5. Food wastage was significantly influenced by the composition of the family, with adults wasting more in absolute terms than children, and larger households wasting less per person than smaller households. However, with few exceptions, neither income nor geographical region significantly affected the total amount of food wasted in the home. 6.When assessed against the expected usage of food in the home, wastage accounted on average for 6.5 % of the energy intake in summer and 5.4 % in winter.There was sufficient food in the United Kingdom in 1976 to have provided 12.3 MJ (2940 kcal) to each person each day, and a further 0.7 MJ (160 kcal) was available from alcoholic drinks (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 19786). These estimates relate to the edible portion of the food made available for human consumption from our farms and from imports, after allowance has been made for exports, non-food usage and any changes in year-end stocks. In contrast, the weighted average physiological requirement of the population for energy, calculated from the intakes recommended by the Department of Health and Social Security (1969) for different categories of people in the United Kingdom was only 9-6-9.8 MJ (2300-2350 kcal)/person per d, the value depen...

1. The amounts of iodine in nationally representative samples of prepared and cooked groups of foods and in a wide variety of individual foods and food products were determined colorimetrically. The amounts of erythrosine, a red food colour containing 577 mg I/g were also determined in selected foods and diets by high-performance liquid chromatography. 2. The average British diet was calculated to provide 323 micrograms I/d but only 255 micrograms if two fruit samples containing large amounts of glacé cherries were discounted. Of the total, 92 micrograms was derived from liquid milk. Meat and meat products provided 36 micrograms and cereal products 31 micrograms, but fresh fruits and sugars, vegetables and beverages provided little I. Fish and fish products, though rich in I, contributed only 5% to the total intake. 3. Milk was the most variable as well as the most important individual source of I. Summer milk samples contained 70 micrograms/kg and winter milk 370 micrograms/kg on average. Milk products, including butter and cheese, and eggs were also rich in I. 4. Some processed foods contained erythrosine, particularly glacé cherries and some pink or red confectionery items, biscuits, cherry cake, canned strawberries and luncheon meat. However, none of these are major foods in the average household diet and erythrosine would therefore contribute little more than 10 micrograms I/d to most diets. 5. The average daily intake of I was lower than in similar similar studies in the USA, but was twice the provisional UK recommended intake. This study provides no evidence that I intakes in the UK could be too low or too high for health.U

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The values for dietary fibre in the current UK food tables were obtained using a fractionation method which involved digestion of starch with a takadiastase preparation. For the revision of the food tables new values for the dietary fibre in cereal and cereal-containing meat products were obtained by an improved fractionation method which used a mixture of amyloglucosidase and a-amylase to digest starch. The full details of this analytical method are given, along with the fibre components which were found in 138 cereal-containing foods. This method produced higher values than the previous method in most processed cereal products. Also the levels of pentoses in the non-cellulosic polysaccharide fraction and of lignin residues are greater. The study considerably extends the range of cereal-containing foods for which the amount of dietary fibre and its components has been determined.