This topic covers the lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes of the population. Areas covered include prevalence of smoking, drinking alcohol, drug misuse, obesity, physical activity and diet. Many sources are available including population surveys, hospital episodes statistics and deaths.
Publications
Presents findings relating to the circumstances of people with psychosis living in the community from a survey of psychiatric morbidity among adults aged 16 to 74 living in private households in Great Britain.
The total number of brief interventions delivered in accordance with the HEAT H4 Alcohol Brief Interventions target. The data is shown by Health Board.
Alcohol Consumption in Black and Minority Ethnic Groups and recent immigrants in Scotland
Alcohol Statistics Scotland
Alcohol-related discharges from general acute and psychiatric hospitals and provides an update on data presented in the Alcohol Statistics Scotland publications.
Births in Scottish Hospitals
Update of breastfeeding rates in Scotland.
Annual update of inequalities targeted cardiovascular health screening statistics to 31 March, carried out as part of the Keep Well and Well North programmes.
This bulletin summarises information collected from statutory and non-statutory drug and alcohol treatment services in Northern Ireland to establish the number of persons in treatment for drug and/or alcohol misuse.
Child Health Profiles provide a snapshot of child health and well-being for each local authority in England using key health indicators, which enable comparison locally, regionally and nationally
Annual update of the number of child healthy weight interventions undertaken by NHS boards. This data is used to monitor HEAT Targets.
Update of annual statistics on high and low body mass index (BMI) for Primary 1 school children in ten participating NHS Boards in Scotland.
This booklet presents analysis of self-harm reports by parents about their children aged 5-15 and by the children themselves aged 11-15.
The Community Life Survey is designed to track the latest trends and developments across areas key to encouraging social action and empowering communities. Topics covered include social action, community engagement and charitable giving.
The Bulletin provides summary information as well as some trend data from previous years. It includes information on - smoking, household composition, debt, internet access, health, sport and leisure, environmental issues, mobile phones and job applications.
Contains statistics regarding contraceptive use among women aged under 50; women ‘at risk’ of pregnancy; sterilisations and vasectomies; sexual behaviour and condom use; and knowledge of sexually transmitted infections.
Results from questions on drinking behaviour and knowledge, included in the Office for National Statistics Omnibus surveys and includes text, data and tables on alcohol consumption, knowledge of units of alcohol and daily benchmarks and where people buy alcohol.
Drug related hospital and psychiatric discharge statistics. Normally published as part of Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland publication, due to issues with data submissions being published separately.
Provisional monthly performance figures for structured drug and alcohol treatment in England. These provisional statistics are produced on behalf of the NTA by the University of Manchester.
This bulletin provides a comprehensive overview of many different aspects of cannabis use in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
This bulletin provides a comprehensive overview of many different aspects of cocaine use in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
This bulletin presents key findings from the second drug prevalence survey of households in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.
This bulletin presents key findings at a local level from the second drug prevalence survey of households in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.
This bulletin provides a comprehensive overview of polydrug use in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
This bulletin provides a comprehensive overview of many different aspects of sedative or tranquillisers and anti-depressant use in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Reports on the prevalence of young people misusing drugs, alcohol and volatile substances.
Smoking, Drinking and Drugs Use among Young People in England is an annual survey carried out in participating schools across England to provide information on pupils' smoking, drinking and drug use behaviours. The survey focuses on different behaviours in different years, alternating between smoking and drinking one year, to drug use the next.
This annual publication presents the latest available information from a range of national data sources relevant to drug misuse.
Describes the health of people living in the UK across key dimensions: health status, risk factors, ill-health, preventive, curative and long-term care services and mortality.
Provides a collation of national and regional data to provide a baseline against which people can compare data from their own Local Health Profile (LHP).
Contains a wide range of statistical information on the health of the population and the range and quality of health care services in Wales.
Series of annual surveys designed to measure health and health related behaviours in adults and children.
Series of annual surveys designed to measure health and health related behaviours in adults and children.
Series of annual surveys designed to measure health and health related behaviours in adults and children.
This publication updates and expands upon the first estimates of HLE for Scotland produced by ISD and others.
The indicators on breastfeeding and the smoking status of pregnant women at the time of delivery are being published as two separate releases, commencing from the publication relating to the quarter ending December 2011, released on 16 February. The information on breastfeeding initiation and the prevalence of breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks will continue to be published by the Department of Health. Smoking at Delivery information will be published by the NHS Information Centre.
Trends in infant feeding chosen by mothers and information on drinking and smoking before, during and after pregnancy.
A set of key clinical indicators (KCIs) has been developed, for which data were first published in February 2006. The KCI reports are updated annually.
Health profiles for all LA areas presenting a range of indicators and a snapshot of the overall health of the local population.
This compendium of local statistics on alcohol and drug use brings together local data from available national sources. The statistics are primarily intended to provide easily accessible information to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to support local planning and service provision. The statistics cover both newly analysed data and previously published data.
The report describes a longitudinal study based on two surveys carried out by ONS among adults living in private households in Great Britain.
This report presents the findings of a survey of the mental health of young people, aged 5-17, looked after by local authorities
A study of service access for acute STIs in Scotland
Statistics on NHS community contraception services (family planning) including figures on vasectomy.
Statistics on NHS community contraception services (family planning) including figures on vasectomy.
Statistics on childhood immunisation and vaccination of the elderly against influenza.
Presents provisional results from the monitoring of the NHS Stop Smoking Services in England. This report includes information on the number of people setting a quit date and the number who successfully quit at the four week follow-up.
The National Child Measurement Programme weighs and measures primary school children.
Food consumption and nutrient intakes of people aged 1.5 years and over living in private households, UK
This report describes the prevalence (past week, past year and lifetime) of suicidal thoughts, suicidal attempts and deliberate self-harm by socio-demographic, socio-economic, psychiatric and social functioning characteristics of the survey respondents.
The report presents the results from secondary analysis of the data on suicide attempts from the ONS survey of psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales carried out at the end of 1997.
This statistical release gives details of the number of persons injured by fireworks in Northern Ireland during the Halloween period. The survey coveres a four/five-week period and covers those injuries treated at A&E Departments and Minor Injuries Units.
This longitudinal study is based on two surveys carried out by ONS among children living in private households in Great Britain. The first survey covered children aged 5 to 15 and was carried out in 1999. The second survey followed up a sample of those from the original survey in 2002.
Contains data on number and percentages of singleton and multiple live births by gestational age, the distribution of singleton live births by gestational age and birthweight; and the birthweight distribution within gestational age groups of live singletons.
Update of annual statistics on high and low body mass index (BMI) for Primary 1 school children in ten participating NHS Boards in Scotland. Prior to December 2010 this publication was released under the title "Childhood obesity - Primary 1 Body Mass Index (BMI) Statistics".
Provisional information highlighting initial results from a survey of injecting equipment provision to injecting drug users in Scotland.
Presents the findings of a survey of psychiatric morbidity among adults aged 16 to 74 living in private households in Great Britain.
Provides information about the prevalence of psychiatric problems (including substance dependence) among male and female, remand and sentenced prisoners in 1997.
Presents information on the mental health of women prisoners from a survey of psychiatric morbidity among prisoners aged 16-64 in England and Wales.
Presents information on the mental health of young offenders from a survey of psychiatric morbidity among prisoners aged 16-64 in England and Wales which was carried out in 1997.
Reports on completeness and timeliness of recording and population trends in the most important disease risk factors (obesity, smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol and ethnicity) within primary care electronic health records.
Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey
Scotland data added to the WHO database of 600 health/health-related indicators for over 50 countries in Europe (including UK), for 1970 to the present, where available. Data are presented in a user-friendly, graphical or tabular form, allowing time trend and international comparisons. Accompanying briefing notes provide a summary of the findings and some interpretation.
This annual report is produced by the Sexually Transmitted Infections Epidemiology Advisory Group (STIEAG), for Scotland.
The Scottish Health Survey provides a detailed picture of the health of the Scottish population in private households and is designed to make a major contribution to the monitoring of health in Scotland.
Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey
Summarises the findings of the smokefree legislation compliance.
Smoking Cessation
Presents results from questions about smoking which were included on the ONS Omnibus survey at the request of the Health and Social Care Informtation Centre.
Smoking, Drinking and Drugs Use among Young People in England is an annual survey carried out in participating schools across England to provide information on pupils' smoking, drinking and drug use behaviours. The survey focuses on different behaviours in different years, alternating between smoking and drinking one year, to drug use the next.
Presents key results from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) on the number of problem drug misusers in contact with drug treatment agencies and general practitioners in England.
This statistical bulletin summarises information on all those persons registered on the Northern Ireland Drug Addicts Index at 31 December in concurrence with the Misuse of Drugs (Notification of and Supply to Addicts) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1973.
This bulletin summarises information on people presenting to services with problem drug misuse and relates to the 12-month period ending 31 March.
Annual report presenting a broad picture of health issues related to alcohol misuse, drinking habits and behaviours, drinking related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol and alcohol related costs.
Annual report presenting a broad picture of health issues related to drug misuse, prevalence of drug misuse, health outcomes including hospital admissions, drug treatment and deaths.
Presents a range of information on obesity, physical activity and diet, drawn together from a variety of sources.
This information release provides information on smoking cessation services in Northern Ireland between 1st April and 31st March.
Presents a broad picture of health issues related to smoking, smoking habits, behaviour and attitudes, smoking related ill-health and mortality and smoking related costs.
Local NHS data on mothers' smoking status at time of delivery of their babies
This statistical release provides information on Substance Misuse in Wales, including data on activity by drug and alcohol treatment services in Wales.
The report presents the results from secondary analysis of the data on substance abuse from the ONS survey of psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales.
The primary purpose of this survey was to produce prevalence rates of the three main childhood mental disorders: conduct disorder, hyperactivity and emotional disorders (and their comorbidity) in England and Wales.
The survey was designed to meet the aims of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) programme in providing detailed information on the current dietary behaviour and nutritional status of those aged 65 and over. The NDNS of people aged 65 and over was based on a sample of approximately 1,300 people living in the community and approximately 400 people living in institutions in Great Britain.
Presents the findings from a survey of psychiatric morbidity among adults aged 16 to 74 living in private households in Great Britain.
This report is based on an survey of psychiatric morbidity among adults aged 16 to 74 years living in private households in Britain, carried out in 2000.
This bulletin reports on the six walking and cycling targets set for Wales. It also analyses wider issues relating to walking and cycling in Wales.
Presents statistics on the health and health-related lifestyle of people living in Wales.
Contains reference tables at a local authority level to supplement the Welsh Health Survey publication.
The last in a series of three surveys for the Health Education Authority looking at the attitudes and beliefs about smoking of children aged 11-15.
Overview
This topic provides a picture of health issues relating to lifestyle risk factors. Information is generally available for both adults and children, covers changes over time and is available at a national and regional level. Some local level information may also be provided.
Examples of information available include:
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smoking habits, behaviours and attitudes, smoking-related ill health and mortality and smoking-related costs
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drinking habits and behaviours, drinking related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol and alcohol-related costs
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overweight and obesity prevalence, physical activity levels, trends in purchases and consumption of food and drink, trends in energy intake and health outcomes of obesity
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prevalence of drug misuse, including the types of drugs used, patterns of drug misuse among different groups of the population, health outcomes related to drug misuse including hospital admissions, drug treatment and deaths related to drug misuse
Much of the information in this section relate to data collected and published by the NHS Information Centre or the Department of Health.
Technical Data
Information for this topic comes from a range of sources including household surveys, hospitals, primary care and deaths registers.
The Health Survey for England is designed to monitor trends in the nation’s health, to estimate the proportion of people who have specified health conditions, and to estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors and combinations of risk factors associated with these conditions.
The survey also monitors progress towards selected health targets. Each survey in the series included core questions and measurements (such as blood pressure, anthropometric measurements and analysis of saliva and urine samples), as well as modules of questions on specific issues that vary from year to year. In recent years, the core sample has also been augmented by an additional boosted sample from a specific population subgroup, such as minority ethnic groups, older people or children.
More information on the Health Survey for England can be found on the Information Centre website.
The Survey of Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among School Young People is an annual survey of secondary school pupils aged in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15).
The survey series began in 1982. Each survey since 1998 has included a core set of questions on smoking, drinking and drug use and, since 2000, the remainder of the questionnaire has focused in alternate years on smoking and drinking or on drug misuse.
The General Household Survey (GHS) is an inter-departmental multi-purpose continuous survey. Questions about smoking behaviour have been asked in alternate years since 1974. Following the review of the GHS carried out in 1997, smoking questions became part of the continuous survey and have been included every year from 2000 onwards.
Questions about drinking alcohol were included in the GHS every two years from 1978 to 1998. Following the review of the GHS, questions about drinking in the last seven days form part of the continuous survey and have been included every year from 2000 onwards. Questions continuing the long-running series designed to measure average weekly alcohol consumption were included from 2000 to 2002 and again in 2005 and 2006.
Results from the General Household Survey are available on the Office for National Statistics website.
Questions about smoking and drinking are included on the ONS Omnibus survey. Questions about smoking behaviour and habits, giving up and stopping smoking, perceptions and awareness of issues related to smoking, attitudes related to smoking and smokers' response to their attitudes were asked of about 2,500 adults aged 16 and over.
The reports examine the prevalence of cigarette smoking, consumption, dependency and smokers' perceptions of relative risk and giving up. Results from questions on drinking behaviour and knowledge, included in the Omnibus surveys and includes text, data and tables on alcohol consumption, knowledge of units of alcohol and daily benchmarks and where people buy alcohol.
Smoking and drinking related statistics are available to view from the Office for National Statistics website.
Quarterly reports present results from the monitoring of the NHS Stop Smoking Services. The reports include information on the number of people setting a quit date and the number who successfully quit at the four week follow-up. They also present a more in depth analysis of the key measures of the service, presenting results by a variety of demographic and service delivery breakdowns.
Hospital admissions related to various lifestyle risk factors are provided through Hospital Episode statistics – see the Patients and Clients topic in the related topics section. The source for these statistics is record-level service data provided by the NHS.
Details of deaths related to smoking and alcohol can be found in the Causes of Death topic.
Drug treatment statistics are derived from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System by the National Treatment Agency.
Glossary
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Acute sickness
An illness or injury that has caused the informant to cut down on any of the things he or she usually does about the house, at work or school or in his or her free time (in the two weeks prior to the interview).
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Age Standardisation
Adult data are age-standardised throughout the Health Survey for England to allow comparisons between groups after adjusting for the effects of any differences in their age distributions. When different sub-groups are compared in respect of a variable on which age has an important influence, any differences in age distributions between these sub-groups are likely to affect the observed differences in the proportions of interest. All age standardisation has been undertaken separately within each gender, expressing male data to the overall male population and female data to the overall female population.
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Alcohol units
The definition of one unit of alcohol is 8mg (or 10ml) of pure alcohol. The number of units in an alcoholic drink depends on the type of drink, how strong it is and the size of the measure. For example, a half pint of normal strength beer, lager or cider is 1 unit of alcohol, and a 175ml glass of wine is 2.2 units of alcohol. In 2006, the unit measurement methodology has been updated to take into account increased strengths of alcoholic drinks over recent years.
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Binge drinking
Binge drinking is difficult to define. It is broadly accepted as drinking to excess or drinking with the intention to get drunk, however as alcohol affects different people in different ways, this proves hard to quantify. The best and most widely used measure for binge drinking is drinking over twice the recommended daily guidelines. That is drinking over 8 units for men and drinking over 6 units for women. Using a units-based definition for binge drinking allows for comparisons with previous years.
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Blood Pressure
Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure are measured in informants aged 5 and over using a standard method. In adults, hypertension is defined as SBP ≥140 mmHg or DBP ≥90 mmHg or on medication prescribed to control hypertension.
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BMI (adults)
Body Mass Index (BMI) is defined as weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres (kg/m2). BMI = Weight (kg) divided by height squared (m squared). BMI definitions: Under 18.5 = Underweight, 18.5 to less than 25 = Normal, 25 to less than 30 = Overweight, 30 and over = Obese, 40 and over: Morbidly obese.
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BMI (children) - UK National BMI percentile classification
Due to differences in growth rates among boys and girls at each age, it is not possible to apply a universal formula for calculating the prevalence of obesity and overweight in children. Each sex and age group therefore needs its own level of classification for obesity. The UK National BMI percentile classification is used as it gives a BMI threshold for each age above which a child is considered overweight or obese. Those children whose BMI is above the 85th percentile are classified as overweight and those children whose BMI is above the 95th percentile are classified as obese, compared to 1990 BMI UK reference data. The percentiles are given for each sex and age.
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Breastfed initially
All babies whose mothers put them to the breast, even if this was on one occasion only.
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Chronic drinking
This is defined as drinking large amounts of alcohol regularly. Again, this is difficult to quantify in terms of units. The benchmark generally used is drinking over 50 units in a week for men and drinking over 35 units in a week for women.
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Current smokers (adults)
Adults who said that they do smoke cigarettes nowadays are classed as current smokers in the surveys used in this report.
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Current smokers (children)
These include children who are regular and occasional smokers.
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Daily recommendations
In 1995, the sensible drinking guidelines were updated to include daily guidelines in recognition of the dangers of excessive drinking in a single session. The daily guidelines are that men should not regularly consume more than 3 to 4 units a day and women should not regularly consume more than 2 to 3 units a day. After a heavy drinking session it is also recommended that both men and women have two alcohol free days.
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Dependent drinking
The World Health Organisation categorises dependent drinkers as those drinking above ‘sensible’ levels and experiencing harm, and also showing symptoms of dependence.
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Duration of breastfeeding
The length of time that mothers who breastfed initially continued to breastfeed for, even if they were also giving their baby other milk and solid foods.
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Duration of exclusive breastfeeding
The length of time that mothers who initially breastfed exclusively continued to feed exclusively, that is not giving formula milk, solid foods, or any other liquids.
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Ex-smokers (adults)
Adults who said that they used to smoke cigarettes regularly but no longer do are defined as ex- smokers (or ex-regular smokers). The definitions for adults who are non-smokers, heavy or light smokers vary in the different surveys.
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Fruit and veg consumption
Fruit and vegetable consumption is measured in portions, using guidelines specified in the ‘5 a day’ programme. The government recommends that people should eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Five portions are defined as 400g of fruit and vegetables per day, an average of 80g per portion. A variety of foodstuffs represent a portion, including vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned), vegetables in composite dishes (such as pies or curries), salads, pulses, fruit (fresh, frozen, canned, dried), fruit in composites (such as pies or crumbles) and fruit juice.
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General Health Questionnaire
This is used as a scale designed to detect possible psychiatric morbidity in the general population. It was administrated to informants aged 13 and above. The questionnaire contains 12 questions about the informant’s general level of happiness, depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance over the past four weeks.
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Harmful drinking
The World Health Organisation categorises harmful drinking as drinking above recognised ‘sensible’ limits and experiencing harm.
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Hazardous drinking
The World Health Organisation categorises hazardous drinking as drinking above recognised ‘sensible’ levels (that is, the daily recommendations in the UK) but not yet experiencing harm. Therefore hazardous drinking can be defined as a pattern of drinking that brings about the risk of harm, which can be either physical or psychosocial harm.
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Illicit drugs
The term ‘illicit drugs’ is used to describe those drugs that are controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. This legislation regulates controlled drugs and divides the drugs into three classes, depending on the harm they cause. For example, Class A drugs cause the most harm and include cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and LSD; Class B includes amphetamines; and Class C includes cannabis. Under the Act there are various offences, including the unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
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Incidence of breastfeeding
The proportion of babies who were breastfed initially.
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Longstanding illness and limiting long standing illness
Longstanding illness is defined as an illness, disability or infirmity that had troubled the respondent over a period of time or was likely to affect them over a period of time. Longstanding illnesses are coded into categories defined in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), but it should be noted that the ICD is used mostly to classify conditions according to the cause, whereas the Health Survey for England classifies according to the reported symptoms. A longstanding illness was defined as limiting if the respondent reported that it limited their activities in any way.
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Occasional smokers (children)
The summary activity level classification is as follows. High activity: 20 or more occasions of moderate or vigorous activity of at least 30 minutes duration in the last four weeks (at least five days a week).This group refers to those adults who met the recommended level of physical activity; Medium activity: 4 to 19 occasions of moderate or vigorous activity of at least 30 minutes duration in the last four weeks (one to five days a week); Low activity: Up to three occasions of moderate or vigorous activity of at least 30 minutes duration in the last four weeks (less than once a week).
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Phyisical activity (children)
Group 3 'high': active for 60 minutes on seven days in the last week. Assuming that all reported activities were of at least moderate intensity, this group refers to those children who met the recommended level of physical activity. Group 2 'medium': active for 30 to 59 minutes on seven days in the last week. Group 2 represents those achieving the lower recommended level which is at least 30 minutes (but less than an hour) of at least moderate intensity per day. The same intensity assumption highlighted above applies here. Group 1 'low': active at a lower level or not active at all. This group refers to children who did not meet either of the physical activity guideline.
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Prevalence of breastfeeding
The proportion of all babies who were wholly or partially breastfed at specific ages.
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Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding
The proportion of all babies who have only ever been given breast milk up to specific ages and who have never been fed formula milk, solid foods, or any other liquids.
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Regular smokers (children)
A child who smokes at least one cigarette a week
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Smoking attributable fractions
These are estimates of smoking prevalence for both smokers and ex-smokers by gender and age. These are used to assess the relative risks for deaths and non-fatal diseases for both smokers and ex-smokers for those diseases known to be associated with smoking.
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Weekly recommendations
‘Sensible drinking’ levels were defined in the government’s white paper, Health of the Nation 1992. The recommendations were that men should consume no more than 21 units per week and women should consume no more than 14 units per week.
Contact Details
For statistical enquiries about this topic, please contact:
The NHS Information Centre of Health and Social Care
Email: enquiries@ic.nhs.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 845 300 6016
1 Trevelyan Square Boar Lane Leeds LS1 6AE
