Scots and their health

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/scotland/10283469.stm

Not particularly surprising results from this study. I really admire the Scots. They collectively stick two fingers up at the health fascists and refuse point blank to change.

I read that thing today too. Made me realize just what a rarified sector of society I must come from. The people I know do marathons and whitewater canoeing – and they’re middleaged people, not buff young teenagers or whatever. They shop for organic feta and wholegrain artisan bread blah blah blah, all that kind of stuff.
However, I don’t think it’s that rarified, really. I think it has a lot more to do with the people they chose for their survey.
I know people from across fairly wide range of demographics in Scotland and I simply refuse to believe that they constitute a mere 3 percent of the population.
Sure, I’m well aware of the fat slobs you see on a Saturday afternoon grazing in the shopping malls on their day off from the sink estates, but are those people REALLY 97 percent of the people? Are they bollocks! That study has been skewed and manipulated for political purposes or I’ll eat my hat. Covered in batter, deep fried with chips and six cans of cut-price high-strength superlager, please.

I think in any developed country you’d see a result of around 97%. I mean, pretty much everybody would check at least one of those five factors. Apart from Gandhi.

Right. But the headline in the Scotsman says something like “Scots health hits nadir with only 2.5 getting clean bill of health.”
In fact, as you point out, pretty much everybody would tick at least one of those boxes, so in effect, pretty much NOBODY gets a clean bill of health, Scottish or not.
There’s little doubt that Scots in general deserve the “sick man of Europe” label, but that has more to do with poverty than location, I bet.
I don’t believe the plebs in England are any healthier than Scottish plebs. There’s just a lower ratio down there.
What am I saying? I have pretty much no idea. :laughing:
QUIT discombobulatin’ me, ya damn sassenach!

Meh…just fodder to fill empty column space.

I don’t believe the Scots are any less healthy, nor more healthy than any other subset of a subjugated people living on a small island.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8463333.stm