Health Survey for England 2015 - report published

The Health Survey for England series is designed to monitor trends in the nation’s health; estimating the proportion of people in England who have specified health conditions, and the prevalence of risk factors and behaviours associated with these conditions. This covers alcohol consumption among adults and children.

The latest report has just been published.

Key headlines:

Adult smoking

• 19 per cent of men and 17per cent of women were current smokers.
• In 2015, 5 per cent of adults were currently using e-cigarettes. The prevalence of ever having used e-cigarettes was much higher among current smokers, at 40 per cent. Only 1 per cent of those who had never smoked had ever used an e-cigarette.

Adult alcohol consumption

• 31 per cent of men and 16 per cent of women drank over 14 units in a usual week.

Adult obesity

• 27 per cent adults were obese. Being overweight was more common than being obese and 41 per cent of men and 31 per cent of women were overweight, but not obese.

Providing unpaid social care

• 18 per cent of adults had provided unpaid help to someone in the last month because of long-term physical or mental ill-health, a disability or problems relating to old age.

Children’s physical activity

• Excluding school-based activities, 22 per cent of children aged 5 to 15 met the physical activity guidelines of being at least moderately active for at least 60 minutes every day.

Children’s smoking and exposure to other people’s smoke

• 1 per cent of children aged 8 to 15 in the years 2014 and 2015 reported that they smoked regularly (at least one cigarette per week).
• Among non-smoking children aged 4 to 15, 34 per cent of boys and 38 per cent of girls had detectable levels of cotinine in 2014/2015, indicating exposure to other people’s smoke.

Children’s drinking

• Regular drinking by children was rare. 1 per cent of both boys and girls aged 8 to 15 reported usually drinking once a week or more. The proportion who reported drinking once a week or more increased from fewer than 1 per cent of both boys and girls aged 8, to 5 per cent of boys and 4 per cent of girls aged 15.

Well-being of 13-15 year olds

• The majority of 13 to 15 year olds had high or very high scores on the ONS measures of life satisfaction (81 per cent), feeling that the things they did were worthwhile (78 per cent) and feeling happy yesterday (74 per cent).

A summary of the key findings can be found here - http://www.content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB22610/HSE2015-Sum-bklt.pdf

A summary of the key findings on adult alcohol consumption can be found here - http://www.content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB22610/HSE2015-Adult-alc.pdf

These include:

• In 2015, 83% of adults had drunk alcohol in the last 12 months.
• On average, men drank a mean of 14.9 units in a usual week and women drank a mean of 8.9 units.
• A minority of adults, 13% of men and 20% of women, had not drunk alcohol in the last 12 months. The majority, 55% of men and 64% of women, drank at levels considered to be at lower risk of alcohol-related harm (up to 14 units). The remaining 31% of men and 16% of women drank over 14 units in a usual week.
• Drinking over 14 units in a usual week was most common among men and women aged 55 to 64 (41% and 24% respectively).
• Men and women in higher income households were more likely to drink over 14 units in a usual week (37% and 22% respectively) than were men and women in lower income households (29% and 9% respectively).
• 15% of men and 9% of women drank alcohol on five or more days in the last week.
• Among adults who had drunk alcohol in the last week, 52% of men drank above 4 units on at least one day, and 50% of women exceeded 3 units on at least one day.

A summary of the key findings on children’s alcohol consumption can be found here - http://www.content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB22610/HSE2015-Child-alc.pdf

These include:

• The proportion of children who reported ever having had a proper alcoholic drink increased with age, from 4% of boys aged 8 to 53% of boys aged 15, and from 2% of girls aged 8 to 54% of girls aged 15. Overall, 16% of boys and 15% of girls aged 8 to 15 reported having experience of drinking alcohol. This is the lowest level ever reported by the Health Survey for England.
• Regular drinking in this age group was rare. 1% of boys and 1% of girls aged 8 to 15 reported usually drinking once a week or more. The proportion who reported drinking at least once a week increased from fewer than 1% of both boys and girls aged 8 to 5% of boys and 4% of girls aged 15.
• 5% of both boys and girls aged 13 to 15 reported drinking alcohol in the last seven days. Boys were more likely than girls to have drunk beer, lager, cider or shandy (5% compared with 3%), whereas girls were more likely than boys to have drunk wine (2% compared with 1%).

Source: NHS Digital