Key results from the East of England Lifestyle Survey 2008
The East of England lifestyle survey was conducted in October--December 2008. 26,290 people aged 16+ were interviewed by telephone. The sample was sufficiently large to provide prevalence estimates for key lifestyle variables at PCT level and was designed to enable comparisons to be made between the most deprived fifth of MSOAs in each PCT with the rest of the PCT population.
Questions were asked about:
- Age, sex, ethnicity and socioeconomic status
- General health and long term limiting illness/disability
- Smoking status
- Smoking quit attempts
- Alcohol consumption
- Self-reported height and weight
- Physical activity
- Diet
Click here to view the questionnaire.
The first results of the survey were presented in a paper to the SHA board meeting on 23rd March 2009.
Adapted versions of the survey were carries out in the gypsies and travellers community and amongst people in the criminal justice system.
Report on gypsies and travellers survey
Report on criminal justice survey
Highlights
- The survey involved more than 26,000 people and was conducted by telephone at the end of 2008
- It will be repeated at the end of 2009
- One in 20 people report themselves to be in "poor health"
- One in 6 report a long term limiting illness
- One in 7 men and women self report a body mass index over 30 i.e. they are obese. Self reporting of obesity underestimates the true prevalence.
- 18.4%, one in 6 of the population smokes
- Of these two thirds say they would like to quit
- 1 in 15 men and 1 in 40 women drink harmful amounts of aclohol (for men this is about equivalent of a bottle of wine a day and for women about 2/3 of a bottle)
- I in 7 people eat five portions of fruit and vegetables less than once per week. 40% eat five a day at least 5 times per week.
- Less than half of men and less than 40% of women undertake adequate levels of physical activity
- One in 9 people undertake the 4 health behaviours, which according to the EPIC study, are likely to be of significant benefit to their health (these are not smoking, moderate alcohol intake, sufficient physical activity, and good diet based on fruit and vegetable consumption).
2008 Lifestyle Survey summaries by PCT (revised)
Click here to download technical documentation to accompany the PCT summaries of survey results.
Click here to download data for all PCTs used in 2008 Lifestyle Survey summaries.
Analyse the data
Download PCT summary data comparing the version used in the lifestyle survey profiles and the recently corrected version of the dataset
Click here to analyse the survey online - registered and advanced users
Key findings
Characteristics of survey respondents
- 26,290 people responed to the survey - 12,298 men and 13,992 women.
- 27% of respondents were aged 16-34, 35% were 35-54,19% were 55-64 and 19% were 65+.
- Female respondents tended to be younger.
- 92.7% of the raw (unweighted) sample reported themselves as white; 3.7% as Asian and 2.0% black.
- Sample weighting was used to align the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the sample with the whole population. Further details can be found in supporting documentation. All estimates of lifestyle variables are based on the weighted sample.
General health and disability
- 1 in 20 respondents reported their health as bad or very bad.
- The prevalence of self reported poor health ranged from 4.1% in West Hertfordshire PCT to 6.9% in Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT.
- On average, respondents in the most deprived fifth of areas within each PCT reported poor health 50% more than the rest of the population (7.2% compared to 4.6%).
- 1 in 6 respondents reported a limiting long-term illness or disability (LLTI) - this ranged from 8.5% of those aged 16-34, to 27.4% of over 65s.
- The overall prevalence was lowest in Cambidgeshire PCT (13.6%) and highest in Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT (20.1%).
- On average, the prevalence of LLTI was 4% higher in the most deprived areas of each PCT than the rest of the population.
- Almost 1 in 3 heavy smokers (more than 20 cigarettes per day) report a LLTI.
Tobacco consumption
- The overall smoking prevalence in the East of England is 18.4%
- It varies from 22.3% in Peterborough PCT to 15.6% in Cambridgeshire PCT.
- The prevalence in the most deprived 20% of PCT populations was 24.5% on average; in the rest of the population it was 16.8%.
- The relative smoking gap (the ratio of the prevalence in the most deprived areas to the rest of the population) was 44% on average but ranged between 12% in Luton and 73% in North East Essex.
- Prevalence decreases with age and is highest in 16-34 year old men (25.5%). Overall, 19.1% of men and 17.8% of women are current smokers.
- The absolute difference in smoking prevalence between the most deprived areas within each PCT and the rest of the population is 8.7% in men and 6.9% in women.
- When categorised by employment status, 37% of those who reported themselves disabled and 34% of those unemployed are current smokers.
Smoking cessation
- Although two thirds of smokers say that they would like to give up smoking, 60% have made no serious quit attempt in the last 12 months.
- On average there is no difference in the proportion of smokers who have attempted to quit between deprived and non-deprived areas.
- Overall heavy smokers are no more likely to have attempted to quit than lighter smokers.
Alcohol consumption
- Men are more likely than women to drink over the recommended weekly limits (27% of men and 15% of women).
- 6% of men and 3% of women are drinking at harmful levels.
- There is a social gradient in hazardous drinking, with levels being higher in the higher social grades. However, there are no significant differences in harmful drinkers by social grade.
- The prevalence of non drinking is highest in social grades D and E where almost 1 in 5 people do not currently drink at all.
Self-reported height and weight
- The average self-reported height for men is 178cm and 164cm for women.
- The average self-reported weight is 82kg for men and 67kg for women
- Levels of obesity and overweight in the population is calculated from these self-reported height and weight measurements. The figures are lower than expected compared to national surveys, probably because people tend to overestimate their height and underestimate their weight which in turns effects the Body Mass Index calculation.
- Men are more likely to be overweight. 40% of men and 28% of women are overweight.
- Levels of obesity are similar in men and women with around 1 in 7 people being classified as obese.
- People in the 20% most deprived MSOAs in the PCT are generally more likely to be obese that the rest of the PCT population.
Physical activity
- Physical activity was assessed using the IPAQ short telephone questionnaire and categorised into 3 activity groups - low, medium and high. The high category is adequate activity levels - broadly equivalent to moderate activity for 30 mins a day at least 5 times per week.
- On average the prevalence of high activity rates was 42.8% but varied from 36% in West Herts to 46% in South West Essex.
- The prevalence of high levels of activity declines with age. In younger age groups, people from the most deprived fifth of the population tend to be more active than the rest of the population - in older people this pattern is reversed.
Diet
- 1 in 7 people eat the recommended 5 portions of fruit and vegetables on less than one day per week.
- 42% eat 5-a-day on at least 5 days of the week.
- 70% of the population eats breakfast everyday.
- People living in the most deprived MSOAs in each PCT are less likely to eat their 5-a-day than those in the rest of the PCT.