Meet the McGeechans. They're a pretty ordinary family. Mum Adrienne works for her local council and is always on the go, while her children - Niall, who's 14, Cahil, 10, and Eilidh, 6 - are just as busy with school and friends. However frantic things are, though, the family always comes together for meal times. But what is their diet really like? Just like the rest of us, they might think they're eating well but do they really know the hidden risks in their food?

They're about to find out. We asked Adrienne, 44, Cahil and Niall, who live in Bothwell, to keep a diary of everything they ate over five days to discover what a typical Scottish family is eating - and what they should be doing better.

The two big risks for any family are salt and fat, so we asked dietitian Lorraine McCreary of Diet Scotland to look at the family's diaries and identify the salty and fatty danger zones.

Here are the results of the week's experiment, including some of what the family ate and Lorraine McCreary's ideas on how they - and every family in Scotland - can cut down on their fat and salt.

ADRIENNE McGEECHAN, 44 What she ate: breakfast varied from a cooked breakfast on Sunday to a bagel and pancake on other days. Lunches included a cheese sandwich, egg mayo sandwich and baked potato with coleslaw and tuna. Dinners included steak with potatoes, chicken fajitas with cheese, and home-made burger and chips. Snacks included tortilla chips, mini muffins, cheese and crackers, apples and chocolate biscuits.

The dietitian's verdict: "Adrienne likes her cheese, which is a source of saturated fat. An adult shouldn't have cheese more than twice a week. Cheese can be good for children, though. As long as they are active, children should have cheese more often than adults.

"Other sources of saturated fat in Adrienne's diet are sausages, bacon and butter. If you want a cooked breakfast, cut out the sausage, and grill the bacon. If you use oil, use olive oil. If someone has a cardiac condition, use something other than butter. For a healthy family, butter is no problem although the best spread is anything sourced from olive oil.

"The chicken included in the fajita dish, apart from the added cheese, could be an added source of fat. The key is to avoid reformed chicken. If you're buying chicken, buy chicken that is recognisable as such and avoid any added ingredients.

"Adrienne likes mini muffins and tortilla chips, which are highly processed and likely to be high in fats and sugar."

NIALL McGEECHAN, 14 What he ate: breakfast was a bowl of Wheetos or Cheerios and toast. Lunch included crusty bread and cheese and pancakes. Dinners included home-made pizza, baked chicken and spaghetti bolognaise. Snacks included popcorn, lots of apples, crisps and mini muffins.

The dietitian's verdict: "Niall had nine apples in five days which is good, although other fruits would add different benefits to his diet. Sources of salt in his diet include sausage, tikka and fajitas.

"Sources of fat were cheese, sausages, burgers, chips and pizza with chorizo. Pizza is high in salt and fat and should be eaten no more than once a week. The way we eat pizza is also a problem - try adding a salad rather than just having a big pizza on a plate. Chorizo tastes nice but is extremely fatty. In this diet, it's just adding to the saturated fat content."

CAHIL McGEECHAN, 10 What he ate: breakfast was a bowl of Cheerios. Lunch included chicken noodle soup, leek and potato soup and pancakes. Dinners included pizza with chorizo, baked fish and burger in a roll with chips and salad. Snacks included biscuits, grapes, a tangerine and crisps.

The dietitian's verdict: "Cahil is getting too much energy from sweet drinks, muffins, biscuits, pancakes and popcorn. Pancakes, even if home-made, nutritionally do not offer a lot. In an otherwise healthy diet, that's OK; in a diet that's otherwise lacking, they are not a good idea. Instead of pancakes, have wholemeal bread.

"White bread doesn't contain the fibre that people need and it's often too high in salt. It should be looked on as a bit of treat. Wholegrain is always preferable. For children used to white bread, there are breads out there that are a bit of both and have the benefits of wholegrain. Cheese, sausage, chorizo, pizza, garlic bread and burgers are all high in fat, especially saturated fats from chips. Most of these will carry high salt content too. Cahil did have the best variety of fruit including tangerine, apple and grapes."

ADRIENNE'S REACTION: "I was not aware how much salt there was in the children's diet. Cahil does love chorizo sausage but I would be more concerned if they were regularly getting a fish supper. I need to take it on board as an issue.

"I find diet can get into a rut, certainly during school time and when I'm working. I could shop in a more organised way although I don't have the personality for checking labels.

"I think we all know the message about wholegrain bread, but my children don't like it and I would not force them to eat something they don't like, although sometimes I don't tell them what something is. Cahil used to say he didn't like chicken curry so I started telling him it was Caspian chicken and he ate it, but it was exactly the same thing. I have taught my children how to cook; I can phone home from work and get them to make dinner.

"I'm not worried about the levels of fat in our diets. My children will say, Has that got fat in it?' "It's good, though, to put emphasis on healthy eating in schools."

Tips for a healthy diet HOW TO CUT DOWN ON FAT Processed food is the big no-no - anything that has been processed will usually have added salt and hidden fats. Grate cheese instead of slicing it and you will eat less. Grate some carrot into it too, you won't taste it but it will bulk up the volume. Cut down on obviously fatty ingredients such as chorizo. Use your eyes: if it looks greasy, it will be greasy. If it looks fatty, it will be fatty. Avoid very thin crisps or chips - they are high in fat. Big chunky chips are better. As long as it's not dripping in fat and the chips are big and the fish chunky, a fish supper is essentially quite a healthy meal. It's certainly better than a big burger in a bun with skinny chips. Get rid of visible fats - always trim the fat off bacon and chops. Never use lard. Olive oil is best.

HOW TO CUT DOWN ON SALT Don't add salt at the table. The average woman consumes 8g of salt, the average man 11g, but you really shouldn't be having more than 6g. If you must have salt at the table, use rock salt or sea salt as these contain more minerals than standard table salt. Look out for the salt in breakfast cereals - some have high levels. Avoid food in brine. Cut down on soy sauce and if you do use it, use dark or a reduced salt variety. The light version is actually high in salt. Cut down on eating crisps - have them no more than three times a week. Check labels. High salt content is more than 1.5g salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium). Low is 0.3g salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium).