Information on ‘healthy lifestyles’
Food, lifestyle & healthAlyson Whitmarsh – The Information Centre
Overview
The IC and work in ‘lifestyles statistics’ Food and lifestyles info from the HSE What info is available, how collected, what it can
be used for and some data Eating habits
Fruit and veg consumption Fat and salt intake
Obesity - measurements and obesity related illness
Physical activity HSE – 2007 and 2008
The Information Centre
Background
The Information Centre for health and social care (The IC) was created on 1st April 2005 as a special health authority from the former NHS Information Authority and the Department of Health Statistics Unit.
Our services
The IC was set up to:
Improve public services with better health and social care information
Collect, analyse and distribute information for the health and social care communities in the UK
Make information more accessible by making it easier for the public, regulators, health and social care professionals and policy makers to find what they want, when they want it
The Lifestyles Statistics Team
The Lifestyles Statistics Team produces information related to issues such as smoking, drinking, drug use, healthy eating, physical activity and obesity in order to support health improvement and increase awareness of health risks. The team draws together data from a variety of sources to produce analyses and publications on behaviour, motivation and outcomes.
Health Survey for England
Annual survey covering both adults & children 2005 results published later this month Provides regular information on a range of aspects
concerning our health & factors which affect health Each survey includes core questions & measurements
such as blood pressure, anthropometric measurements and analysis of blood, saliva and urine
Plus modules of questions on specific issues which vary from year to year
Core sample boosted in some years to enable more detailed analyses of particular population groups eg children (02), ethnic minorities (04) and older people (05)
Fruit & veg consumption - HSE
Collected very year since 2001 Used to track progress of ‘5 a day’ target Self-reported over a 24 hour period Possible over-reporting & maybe difficulties with
estimation Provide useful comparisons between groups &
over time & can be linked to other health info collected in the HSE – increasing slightly, ethnic minorities, older people, higher incomes, blood pressure
Consumption of 5 or more fruit & veg portions a day, HSE 2005
26
30
17
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
men
women
children
Fat intake - HSE
UK recommendation maximum 35% energy intake from fat & 11% from saturated fats
Questions used to assess intake of saturated fats
Self-completion based on the Dietary Instrument for Nutritional Education (DINE)
Informants are asked how often on average they consume foods such as cheese, meat, fried foods, snacks and cakes, milk and spreads.
Fat intake – HSE, cntd
Fat score based on frequency of consumption and fat content of a standard portion
Score grouped into 3 categories – low, medium and high
Low score equates to fat intake < 83g/day, high score >122g/day
Can be used to provide useful comparisons overtime, between groups and investigate links with health outcomes eg CVD
Other preferred sources – EFS and NDNS
Salt intake - HSE
Aim to reduce salt intake among adults from 9g to 6g per day
Respondents asked about use of salt in their cooking and at the table
Self-completion questionnaire Captures how people use salt but not
total intake - NDNS Can be used to look at differences
between groups, overtime and links to blood pressure & sodium content of urine
Use of salt in cooking and at the table, HSE 2003
Men Women
Adds salt during cooking 56 53
Generally adds salt without tasting
24 15
Tastes, generally adds salt 14 13
Tastes, occasionally adds salt 24 26
Rarely, or never, adds salt 38 46
Measuring obesity – BMI HSE
BMI measurements = height/weight2
Underweight (<=18.5) desirable (over 18.5 to 25) overweight (over 25 to 30) obese (over 30) morbidly obese (over 40) Data collected every year for adults and
children, latest is 2005
Obesity prevalence among adults
13.2
22.1
16.4
21.9
0
5
10
15
20
25
1993 2005
men women
Measuring obesity – BMI ctd
HSE can be used to investigate relationships to health outcomes and risk factors – blood pressure, CVD, diabetes, physical activity, mental health, smoking
Forecasting to 2010 – 33% men, 28% women. Note the more men are predicted to be obese than women by 2010
Obesity - waist measurements - HSE
Widely recognised measure to identify those with a health risk of being overweight
Collected most years on the HSE NICE recently recommended that waist circumference is
used to assess health risks in people who are overweight but have a BMI less than 35kg/m2
Raised waist circumference defined as 102cm and over in men and 88cm and over in women
HSE shows that 41% women and 31% of men have raised waist circumference
Again can use the HSE to link waist circumference with other risk factors and outcomes eg physical activity, CVD
Obesity related illness
Relative risks of developing chronic diseases that constitute the principle causes of death, including heart disease, stroke and some cancers and other life shortening conditions such as Type 2 diabetes
Admissions to hospital with primary and secondary diagnosis of obesity
Bariactric surgery Prescriptions As well as looking at relationships with health
outcomes information from the HSE http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/obesity
Physical activity - HSE
Collected some years – ‘97, ‘98, ‘03, ‘04 Physical activity in 4 weeks before
interview Participation in activity that lasted 30
minutes or more and type of activity Progress towards recommendation of 30
minutes or more moderate intensity PA on at least 5 days a week
Physical activity - cntd
35% men and 24% women currently meeting recommendations
Useful trends over time, groups and links to other risk factors and outcomes eg obesity, blood pressure
Data also available for children Other sources – National Travel Survey,
Time Use Survey, Taking Part Survey, Active People Survey
Review
The IC Information the HSE can provide – eating
habits (fruit & veg, fat and salt), obesity, physical activity
2005 HSE – older people 2007 HSE includes module on lifestyles
attitudes – healthy eating, physical activity, drinking and smoking
2008 – physical activity