The Scottish Government has announced that it will spend more than £200,000 a year on providing convenience stores with refrigerators and shelves to display healthy food, as part of its new obesity strategy to limit the growing number of overweight people in the country.

Several Scottish media sources report that following the publication of a new strategy to fight obesity in Scotland by the local government on 22 February 2010, public health minister Shona Robison announced that the government would invest £679,000 over three years to extend the Scottish Grocers' Federation Healthy Living programme. The investment by the government will be matched by a £650,000 investment from retailers.

"Extending this programme will make a huge difference to the availability of affordable, healthy food in shops”, said Robison. "This is an opportunity for customers to get more choice from their local stores and for retailers to become an integral part of their communities by helping to improve Scotland's diet."

The Scottish Grocers' Federation Healthy Living programme

The Scottish Grocers' Federation Healthy Living programme was established in 2004 by Robert Wiseman Dairies with the support of the Scottish Government and the five main convenience store operators in Scotland at the time.

Today the programme continues to receive the support of the Scottish Government and has developed to include 625 stores. Participating stores have registered an average increase in sales of fresh fruit and vegetables of between 20% and 30% since the start of the programme and hence there are plans to encourage more stores to sign up.

Investing in hydrocarbons: a double dividend

The announcement provides the potential to kill two birds with one stone, as investing in energy efficient display refrigerators using hydrocarbon refrigerants could contribute to both the fights against obesity and climate change. Hydrocarbon refrigeration ensures minimised greenhouse gas emissions associated with the energy consumption of the equipment as well as the refrigerant used.