More than half of Scots have said they are prepared to pay more tax to improve Scotland's health

Scots feel that social inequalities are fuelling poor health.

The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey has shown that half of Scots believe poorer health is a result of an unjust society.

And 58% of those questioned said they would be willing to pay higher taxes to improve the health of poorer people in Scotland.

More than two-thirds of those who took part believed wealthier people are more likely to lead healthy lives.

The report was commissioned by NHS Health Scotland, and authors the Scottish Centre for Social Research said it showed people are aware of health inequalities.

The centre’s Susan Reid said: "Inequalities in health between different regions and different groups of people in Scotland are among the highest in western Europe.

"This means that many individuals are prevented from enjoying a high standard of physical and mental health.

"Today's findings illustrate that the vast majority of Scots believe that poverty is related to having poorer health and overwhelmingly perceive the income gap as too large."

Public health minister Aileen Campbell said: "Later this week we will be jointly launching, with (local government body) Cosla, Scotland's public health priorities, setting out our ambition for Scotland's public, third sector and private organisations, working with communities, to tackle inequality and Scotland's key public health challenges.

"We will follow this with strategies and action plans for specific areas, such as diet, physical activity and substance misuse."