Eat less fat

Instead of getting our energy from starchy foods like bread and potatoes, we rely too much on foods that are high in animal fats such as red meat, eggs, butter and cheese.

What you can do to eat less fat

• Eat more fish and poultry rather than red meat.
• Choose lean cuts of meat and trim off all the fat you can. Remove the skin from poultry.
• Eat less fried food – bake, grill, steam or poach food instead. If you do fry or roast, try not to add extra fat like ghee, butter or lard and instead use unsaturated oils such as olive, sunflower or rapeseed.
• Buy skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.
• Try low-fat varieties of margarine, butter, yoghurt and cheese.
• Cut out or reduce the number of fatty takeaways (eg fish and chips, burgers, fried chicken) that you eat.
• Avoid snacks which are high in fat, such as crisps and biscuits.