According to experts, the average English diet is healthier and if adopted could help save thousands of Scotts per year.

Data shows that people in Scotland eat more saturated fat and less fruit and vegetables compared to those in England. These eating habits increase risk of death from heart disease, stroke and cancer to the Scots. Even as the scientist acknowledged that the English diet was not perfect, if it is adopted in Scotland it could save more than 2,000 lives a year.

According to the study in the journal BMJ Open, if people in Wales and Northern Ireland also adopt more English diet, about 3,700 deaths a year in the UK could be delayed or avoided.

The researchers assessed differences in diet between the four UK nations by studying data from the Family Food Survey. They calculated how the death rate would change if eating habits change in an area. They found that more than 6,000 deaths could have been prevented or delayed over three years in Scotland if people there would have adopted a more English diet.

Dr Peter Scarborough, from the university’s Department of Public Health, said “The chief dietary factor that is driving this mortality gap is fruit and vegetables. Consumption of fruit and vegetables in Scotland is around 12 per cent lower than in England, and consumption in Northern Ireland is about 20 per cent lower than in England. Other important factors are salt and saturated fat consumption, which are lower in England.”