WIREDGOV

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published the results of the Scottish Health Survey 2009, the fifth report in the series which began in 1995. Following a major review and redesign, the survey became continuous in 2008 and now reports annually.

Main Findings

• Three quarters of adults (77 per cent) described their health as 'good' or 'very good' in 2009.
• The mean score on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) in 2009 was 49.8, not significantly different from the 2008 score.
• 88 per cent of adults had all or some of their own natural teeth in 2009 (91 per cent of men and 86 per cent of women). This is just below the 2010 target of 90 per cent.
• The proportions drinking in excess of recommended weekly alcohol limits declined between 2003 and 2009, from 34 per cent to 27 per cent of men and from 23 per cent to 19 per cent of women but there was no significant change in the proportions drinking above the recommended regular daily limit - 44 per cent of men and 34 per cent of women did so in 2009.
• In 2008/2009, 50 per cent of men and 39 per cent of women exceeded either the daily or weekly guidelines on alcohol consumption, or both.
• Exposure to second-hand smoke has fallen sharply between 1998 and 2009. The proportion of non-smokers aged 16-74 who said they were not exposed to smoke at all has increased from 33 per cent in 1998 to 74 per cent in 2009 among men, and from 39 per cent to 75 per cent among women.
• Women and girls have increased their fruit and vegetable consumption in recent years (from 3.2 mean portions per day in 2003 to 3.4 in 2009 for women and from 2.6 in 2003 to 2.8 in 2008/2009 for girls aged 5-15) but there has been no significant change for men (3.0 to 3.1) or boys (2.6 in both years).
• There have been some improvements to children's diets since 2003. Consumption of oily fish has risen from 8 per cent in 2003 to 13 per cent in 2008/2009 for boys and girls, while prevalence of eating crisps once a day or more fell significantly, from 50 per cent to 36 per cent for boys and from 54 per cent to 35 per cent for girls.
• There was a slight drop in the proportions of adults meeting physical activity recommendations between 2008 (39 per cent) to 2009 (37 per cent) but this was not statistically significant. The target is for 50 per cent of adults to meet the recommendations by 2022.
• The proportion of children meeting physical activity recommendations has fluctuated since 1998, with no particular trend apparent. Whilst the latest figures show a decrease in the number of boys meeting recommendations (72 per cent to 69 per cent) and an increase in girls (56 per cent and 60 per cent) between 2008 and 2009, these differences are not significant. (These long-term trend figures exclude school-based activity as it was not measured prior to 2008).
• The prevalence of overweight including obesity (BMI >=25) in adults has increased since 1995 but has shown some signs of levelling off with a small decrease between 2008 and 2009 (from 68.5 per cent to 68.0 per cent for men and from 61.8 per cent to 61.0 per cent for women). This latest change is not significant and more data will be required to fully judge whether the trend has turned.
• The prevalence of obesity (BMI >=30) in adults has continued to increase each year reaching 26.9 per cent for men and 27.6 per cent for women in 2009, although prevalence for women in 2008 and 2009 was almost identical.
• 31.0 per cent of boys and 28.3 per cent of girls have a BMI outwith the healthy range (either underweight or overweight). This represents a decrease for boys since 2008 (when the figure was 38.2 per cent) and no significant change for girls (28.7 per cent in 2008). Given the considerable fluctuations in the trend since 1998, the sharp decrease for boys may be due to sampling variation and therefore further results are awaited before assessing whether the trend is moving downwards.
• 15.2 per cent of men and 13.7 per cent of women reported having a cardiovascular condition in 2009. There is no clear trend in recent years.
• In contrast, the prevalence of CVD or diabetes among men has increased in every survey year to reach a level of 18.9 per cent in 2009. This increase is largely accounted for by increasing levels of diabetes over time.

Official Statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff.