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The Scottish Health Survey 2008
29/09/2009
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published results from the Scottish Health Survey 2008. This is the first report of the survey since 2003 following a major review and redesign. The survey will report annually from now onwards.
The Scottish Health Survey was recently assessed by the UK Statistics Authority and has been designated as a National Statistics product which means that the statistics are deemed to be compliant with the Code of Practice on Official Statistics, produced according to sound methods and managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.
The main findings were:
- Three quarters of adults rated their health in general to be 'very good' or 'good' and 7 per cent rated it as 'bad' or 'very bad'.
- The mean score on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) was 50.0 (50.2 for men and 49.7 for women), a slight decrease on the 2006 mean score of 51.1. Higher scores indicating higher levels of wellbeing. There is a Scottish Government target to increase the mean score by 2011.
- 88 per cent of adults (91 per cent of men and 86 per cent of women) had all or some of their own natural teeth. This is just below the 2010 target of 90 per cent.
- 30 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women drank more than the recommended units of alcohol per week (21 for men and 14 for women).
- Non-smokers exposure to second-hand smoke has declined markedly in the decade since 1998. Exposure to second-hand smoke in the respondent's own home has decreased from 18 per cent to 10 per cent for both men and women while exposure in other people's homes declined from 21 per cent to 12 per cent among men and from 25 per cent to 13 per cent among women.
- A fifth of men (20 per cent) and a quarter of women (24 per cent) consumed the recommended amount of 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables per day.
- 39 per cent of adults aged 16+ (45 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women) met the physical activity recommendations (30 minutes of at least moderate exercise on most days of the week). This has increased significantly since 1998. The Scottish Government's target is for 50 per cent of adults to meet the recommendations by 2022.
- The majority of adults aged 16+ were overweight (including obese) in 2008 (68.5 per cent of mean and 61.8 per cent of women). 26.0 per cent of men and 27.5 per cent of women were obese. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults has continued in a steady upward trend since 1995.
- Boys (38.2 per cent) were more likely than girls (28.7 per cent) to have a BMI outwith the healthy range (either underweight or overweight) and were also more likely to be overweight (including obese) (36.1 per cent versus 26.9 per cent).
- The proportion of boys with a BMI outwith the healthy range increased from 29.2 per cent in 1998 to 33.9 per cent in 2003 and to 38.2 per cent in 2008. In contrast, the corresponding figures for girls have remained very similar with no significant change over the years (30.4 per cent, 30.7 per cent and 28.7 per cent respectively). There is a Scottish Government target to reduce the rate of increase in the proportion of children with BMI outwith the healthy range. The latest figures suggest that the rate of increase is reducing.
- 15.1 per cent of men and 15.5 per cent of women reporting having a cardiovascular condition. This was not significantly different from 2003 levels.