BREASTFEEDING: According to the Norwegian Directorate of Health, many infants are breastfed for a shorter time than is recommended. Photo: Frank May / NTB
Norwegians do not meet the targets for a good and balanced diet. And many infants are not breastfed for as long as recommended.
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Norwegians do not eat as healthy as desired, according to the Norwegian Directorate of Health’s annual report on the Norwegian diet. We eat less fruit and vegetables, too much meat, less fish, and get too much saturated fat. Norwegians’ diet should contain more vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fish, low-fat dairy products and potatoes. The report also shows that those with poorer means eat less healthy food. The Directorate of Health believes this is worrying. view more
– We have not had the desired development in the Norwegian diet in recent years, says Linda Granlund, divisional director in the Directorate of Health.
This is revealed in the Directorate of Health’s annual report on the Norwegian diet.
The goal was for Norwegians to eat healthier, but we don’t do that.
This is what the diet of Norwegian people looks like:
We eat less fruit and vegetables. The proportion of children and young people who eat fruit and vegetables daily is low. We still eat too much meat, and less fish and seafood. We still get too much saturated fat. We drink less milk, but eat more cheese. Those with better means eat healthier. While most things are going the wrong way, there is one bright spot: We are getting closer to the goal of eating less sugar.
An action plan was launched in 2017 to get Norwegians to eat healthier.
This had a target of a 20 per cent increase in the consumption of coarse cereals, vegetables, fruit, berries and fish by 2023.
– It may have been ambitious, but we thought it was realistic. We are a long way from reaching these goals, says Linda Granlund at the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
Many breastfeed for a shorter time than recommended
A large proportion of infants in Norway receive breast milk, but many for a shorter period than is recommended, according to the report.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends mothers to breastfeed their children for the entire first year of life and preferably longer. The World Health Organization says two years, but preferably even longer than that.
According to the diet report, the proportion of breastfed children at 12 months was 48 per cent in 2019.
– Breast milk is the best food for your infant. It is good for the child to receive breast milk for the entire first year. All breastfeeding, including partial breastfeeding, is beneficial for both you who are breastfeeding and for your child, says Linda Granlund at the Directorate of Health.
DEMANDING: Elise Landa does not believe that arrangements have been made for women to be able to breastfeed for as long as is recommended. Photo: Private
VG has previously spoken to the mother of a toddler, Elise Landa, who is still breastfeeding her daughter, who is now one year and one month old.
The fact that many people breastfeed for less than what is recommended does not surprise her.
– It is demanding to have to breastfeed for longer than 6-8 months, because that is when you have to return to work after leave, says Landa.
She herself has experienced how demanding it can be to continue breastfeeding, after starting to work again.
– I simply believe that it is not suitable to be able to breastfeed for as long as is recommended, says Landa.
Price is decisive for food choices
Linda Granlund at the Norwegian Directorate of Health believes they must now look at more powerful measures to get people to eat healthier.
– The most important drivers for what people eat are price and availability. Now price controls to a greater extent what most of us buy in the store than before, says Granlund.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES: Norwegians fail to meet the targets for a good and balanced diet. Photo: Aurora Ytreberg Meløe / VG
The report shows that those who can afford less eat less healthy food. And vice versa.
– This is something that worries us. Most of us know what is healthy, but arrangements must be made to make it easier to make the healthy choices, says Granlund.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends that politicians do something about food taxes, so that healthy food becomes cheaper.
MEASURES: The Norwegian Directorate of Health believes that healthy food should become cheaper. Photo: Fredrik Solstad / VG
– The trend in consumption of healthy foods has been negative over several years, but the animal age has made it worse, says Mina Gerhardsen at the National Association for Public Health.
Gerhardsen believes it is high time that something is done to reverse the negative trends in the Norwegian diet.
– The report joins a worrying trend. It is a political responsibility to ensure that everyone can afford to eat healthily, says Gerhardsen.
We should eat more of this
Norwegians’ diet has some clear weaknesses, the Directorate of Health believes.
We eat a lot of food that increases the risk of lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
To live a healthy and good life, the Directorate of Health wants us to eat more of this:
Vegetables, fruit and berries. Whole grains and coarse grain products. Fish and seafood. Low-fat dairy products, soft margarine and cooking oil. Potatoes, instead of fatty potato products.
In the latest Nordic dietary advice, it was recommended not to drink any alcohol. In 2022, Norwegians bought less alcohol, according to the report.
Cross-border trade is not included here, but we traded less outside Norway’s borders in 2022 than before the pandemic.
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Published: 06.12.23 at 08:59
Updated: 06.12.23 at 09:48
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2023-12-06 07:59:34
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