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