SCOTS schoolchildren are consuming fewer nutrients in their diet than they were in the late-1990s and fewer than three portions of fruit or vegetables a day.

Experts presented research into the health and wellbeing of adolescents across the UK and Scotland at a conference for teachers in Glasgow yesterday.

Dr Sandra Drummond of Queen Margaret University said studies of the intake of key nutrients by youngsters aged 11 to 18 revealed, apart from folates, all had fallen between 1997 and 2008/09.

Calcium consumption had fallen as adolescents consumed fewer dairy products, with magnesium and potassium also dropping, while intakes of saturated fats and sugar rose.

The fall in iron was striking, with the average intake among schoolchildren aged 11 to 18 dropping from just under 100 milligrams per week in 1997 to just over 50mg by 2008/9, compared to a recommended intake of around 80mg per week for teenage boys and 105mg a week for teenage girls.

Ms Drummond said: "Iron plays a vital role in concentration. In the school environment it's essential they have enough iron to concentrate through the day.

"We're also talking about young women approaching childbearing age and we know women who enter pregnancy with deficient iron levels tend to have low birthweight babies."

The increase in folate intake was probably due to fortified cereals, she added.