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National Statistics
Publication, Part of

Health Survey for England - 2004: Updating of trend tables to include 2004 data

Official statistics, National statistics, Survey
Publication Date:
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Country, Regions, Strategic Health Authorities
Date Range:
01 Jan 2004 to 31 Dec 2004

Summary

The Health Survey for England is a series of annual surveys designed to measure health and health related behaviours in adults and children living in private households in England. The survey was commissioned by the Department of Health and since April 2005 the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

The survey consists of an interview and nurse visit. It has a series of core elements that are included every year and special topics that are included in selected years. Core topics include general health, smoking, drinking and fruit and vegetable consumption, height, weight, blood pressure measurements and blood and saliva samples. Special topics include cardiovascular disease, physical activity, accidents, lung function measurement and certain blood analytes. The trend tables focus upon key changes in core topics and measurements.

On 21 April 2006 the following corrections were made to the Health Survey trend tables:

i. Table Ad6_BMI, to give correct figures for weighted and unweighted BMI status for women for 2004.
ii. Trend commentary, to remove reference to 1993 in the table 12 commentary on alcohol consumption.

Highlights

Adults
Obesity

No significant change in the proportion of adults who were overweight, though there was a marked increase in the proportion who were obese. The proportion who were categorised as obese (BMI over 30) increased from 13.2% of men in 1993 to 23.6% in 2004 and from 16.4% of women in 1993 to 23.8% in 2004

Smoking
The proportion of men who were smokers declined from 28% in 1993 to 22% in 2004. The proportion of women who were current smokers decreased between 1993 and 2004, falling from 26% to 23%.

Children
Mean BMI
Between 1995 and 2001, mean BMI increased among boys (from 17.6 to 18.1) and girls (from 18.0 to 18.4) aged 2-15. Among girls aged 0-15, mean BMI increased from 18.2 in 2001 to 19.0 in 2004, but there was no significant increase among boys aged 0-15 over that period.

Fruit and vegetable consumption
Between 2001 (when monitoring started) and 2004, there were no changes in mean portions of fruit and vegetables consumed: boys consumed, on average, 2.4 to 2.7 portions per day while girls consumed between 2.6 and 2.7 portions per day. There were no clear trends in the proportion of children in different consumption bands.

ISBN Reference: 1-84636-033-1

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Last edited: 11 April 2018 4:18 pm