What can Scotland do to improve its health for future generations

For 26 years my father was the North Lochs doctor on the Isle of Lewis. He used to say, "Medicine is both a science and an art. We've become good at the science, but we've forgotten the art. That's a problem, because illness is only partly in the body. It's also in the mind."
It's why we won't solve Scotland's health problems only by urging lifestyle change and more hospitals. We need to tackle issues at the bedrock of the psyche.
I live in Greater Govan, where I'm on the board of a community organisation, the GalGael Trust. Hard-pressed young people come to our Ibrox workshop. They're given a piece of locally-sourced wood, a hammer and a chisel. Our trainers help them to make something beautiful. They go down the Clyde on boats built in our yard, and discover the nature of Scotland. They reconnect with the elemental - fire, air, earth and water - and their creativity comes alive in context of community.
The west of Scotland is full of people descended from those once uprooted from the land. The trauma has never been dealt with. I believe it passes on intergenerationally.
I listened to Professor Willie Ermine of the First Nations University of Canada. He said: "Whatever happens to the land is going to happen to the children. Disengagement from the land has injured the people."
That's the challenge to Scotland - to call back the soul of the most broken of our people. This is an agenda that needs a creative integration of policies for health, education, economics, environment and culture. It's a tall order, but it offers life.
Dr Harry Burns, Scotland's chief medical officer
One hundred years ago, life expectancy in Scotland was higher than average for western European countries and it was improving steadily. Around 1950 our neighbours overtook us. The evidence suggests that Scotland's overall health status is held back by the poor health of its most deprived communities, most of which are in the Clydeside conurbation.
There is no doubt that it is hard to live a healthy lifestyle when struggling with poverty. Yet, experience suggests that eradicating poverty is insufficient by itself to narrow health inequalities.
We need to continue efforts to support the adoption of healthy lifestyles. The affluent have given up smoking more readily than those living in poorer neighbourhoods. Obesity and lack of exercise contribute to health inequalities, and the toll on health from excessive alcohol consumption is great. But inequalities continue to widen regardless of the successes of health promotion. If we continue with conventional tactics, it is unlikely we will narrow the gap between rich and poor. We need new approaches.
Evidence is mounting that experience of difficult circumstances in early childhood can alter the way we respond to stresses in adulthood, making us far more susceptible to the risks of cancer and heart disease associated with smoking and poor diet. Help for poorer mothers with no experience of supportive parenting has had positive effects on health of children and young adults in several studies.
A strategy combining action to support those most at risk will require input from all departments of government and its implementation needs local authorities, the NHS and the third sector to come together in new ways to put it into action.
Professor Kathleen Marshall, Scotland's commissioner for children and young people
Child health cannot be treated in isolation. Nor, as this research shows, is there a simple relation with deprivation, although this can be a key factor. If children are helped to be safe, active and happy, this will have a positive impact on their physical and mental health.
Adults' fears are increasingly impacting on children's lives with consequences for their health and well-being. Fear of being accused of harming a child, through abuse or neglect, can cause adults to withdraw from the kind of friendly and affectionate interaction with children that used to be above suspicion.
To tackle poor child health, two changes are crucial. There should be a child impact assessment of every proposed policy/law, and Scotland should incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law.
Lindsay MacHardy, director of programme design and delivery, NHS Health Scotland
We need to keep the long term in view and put in place the building blocks of a healthier future. Addressing inequalities in health in the early years is paramount and initiatives to support new parents, to increase breastfeeding, to ensure access to services and provide health-promoting facilities and environments are all important. The roll-out of health-promoting schools, the inclusion of health in the curriculum and ensuring opportunities for physical activity, the provision of healthy food and positive social and emotional development, are all key areas of action to improve young people's health.
Charlie McMillan, director of research, influence and change at Scottish Association for Mental Health
People with long-term mental health problems live with poorer physical health and die younger.
Lack of exercise, poor diet and excessive drug and alcohol use can be as bad for someone's mental health as they are for their physical health. We need to win the argument that our mental and physical health are inextricably linked.
We must continue with traditional health promotion messages, but understand why people are predisposed to a less healthy lifestyle. Poverty and exclusion are two pieces of the jigsaw but we need to know why people use drugs, drink to excess, eat the things we know are bad and fail to take exercise. Why does our health matter so little? Is this a case of lack of information, mass denial - "it'll not happen to me" - or worse, self-harm on a national scale?
Theresa Fyffe, director of Royal College of Nursing Scotland
Nurses are on the front line, dealing with the fallout from Scotland's culture of alcohol, obesity, smoking, drugs and violence.
Those living in the most economically-deprived areas have the greatest risk of ill health. Early-years experiences are critical to future wellbeing, so educating and investing in children and families is an effective way of empowering people to take control of their own health.
If Scotland is to improve its health status, both physical and mental wellbeing need to be addressed.