Add an aversion to exercise and tooth-brushing and it’s no wonder so many of us are fat and losing our teeth. Which might be why we drown our sorrows in alcohol.

But we can take some comfort in the fact we’re no worse than people anywhere else in Scotland.

The Scottish Executive today released a survey conducted two years ago detailing how the nation is shaping up — or not — to the challenges of staying fit and healthy.

There are some improvements since the last survey in 1998. Fewer people are smoking and fewer are dying from strokes, heart disease and cancer.

But it is clear there is still a long way to go.

One of the big contributors to poor health is alcohol abuse.

In Tayside, 18% of men and women admit to drinking more than the recommended limits of 21 units and 14 units per week respectively, and in Fife it’s 19%. That is just below the Scottish average.

On a brighter note, the two regions seem to have less of a problem with very heavy drinking, each having only 2% of the population who drink more than 50 units for men or 35 units for women each week. That is half the Scottish average.

But 27% of Taysiders and 29% of Fifers still smoke.

Both regions are close to the national average of 14.7% of the population who suffer from a cardiovascular condition, more than half of those involving angina, heart attack or stroke.

When it comes to diet, too few of us are heeding the call to eat at least five portions per day of fruit and vegetables.

In Fife, just 26% say they reach that target, and in Tayside only 18% can say the same. Astonishingly, about 10% of us admit to not eating fruit and veg daily at all.

Perhaps we are too busy stuffing ourselves with things that are not so good for us.

Some 27% of Fifers and 20% of Taysiders say they eat sweets or chocolate. For biscuits, it’s 38% and 35% respectively.

On the positive side, 28% of Taysiders and a third of Fifers eat high-fibre cereal five or six times per week.

But all that sugary food is taking its toll, especially in Fife, where 17% have lost all their own teeth. The Tayside figure is 12%. Perhaps not surprising when 7% of us admit we don’t brush our teeth every day.

When it comes to physical activity, there is a definite split between the active and the couch potatoes.

The current recommendation is that we do 30 minutes of vigorous activity at least five days per week.

In Tayside, just 36% meet that target, and in Fife 45%.

However, 28% of Taysiders and 26% of Fifers confess to doing less than 30 minutes exercise in a week — and presumably that’s restricted to opening sweetie wrappers and lifting beer cans and cigarettes.

It’s no wonder, then, that so many of us are seriously overweight.

The Executive survey contains figures on body mass index, which is worked out by comparing a person’s height to their weight.

A score of 30 or more is classed as obese — and that worked out at 25.7% of people in Tayside and 23.8% of people in Fife. That helps explain why 7% of people in both regions assessed their own health as bad.

Despite the problems, health minister Andy Kerr said he reckoned Scotland was starting to shed its tag as the sick man of Europe.

He said, “Fewer Scots are dying prematurely from the big three killers of cancer, heart disease and stroke. But I am not complacent.

“We know that Scotland is facing major issues such as rising obesity levels and increased alcohol consumption, particularly among women. It is also disappointing that smoking and alcohol consumption among 15-year-olds is on the increase.

“But we are seeing positive signs of improvement. People’s attitudes towards eating are changing. Men and women are also getting more active. Smoking levels among adults have been falling consistently over recent years.

“Scotland is the first part of the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public places from March next year. This will have a massive impact on the nation's health.

“We are going to make fundamental changes to the way healthcare services are delivered in Scotland.

“I want to see healthcare that gets out into communities and into workplaces, knocking on doors and talking to people, to identify who is at risk of a heart attack, cancer, diabetes or high cholesterol and helping them take action early to stop that happening.”

The approach being taken in Scotland has won praise from a senior official from the United Nations’ World Health Organisation.

Erio Ziglio, head of the WHO’s European Office for Investment for Development and Health, said, “Scotland has considerable health challenges, but I believe the way the Executive and NHS Scotland have been tackling them over recent years provides a good example to other small countries in Europe and worldwide.

“Scottish problems are not unique. European cities such as Turin and Malmo share the kind of sharp differences in life expectancy that we see in Glasgow, for example. But many other countries are not as far ahead in dealing with health inequalities, and I am keen to see how we can communicate this more widely.”