Health update for West Wiltshire

9.03.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 26th Jun 2008

The Department of Health have published an updated 'Health Profile' for West Wiltshire for 2008 - the third year the figures have been published. Generally it says we're in good nick. Compared to the national average we're saner, we live longer, we're below average ability at binge drinking and smoking, and our teenagers are better at not getting pregnant. 10% of children are classed as obese when they start school and 190 smokers die each year. Amongst adults 22% smoke, 15% do binge drinking, 26% eat healthily and 12% are physically active - although it's not explained how the other 88% manage to be physically inactive without being dead, nor whether there's overlap - does binge drinking count as physical activity?

There are two DoH indicators where we still fall short and are significantly below average. One of these relates to children's teeth - the average number of decayed, missing and filled teeth in children aged 5. Given that the decayed state of NHS dentistry is a national problem it's not clear why this should be.

The other is GCSE achievement, though perhaps the question here is why this should be seen as an indicator of health rather than education.

For more information and to see how West Wilts compares to other areas see www.healthprofiles.info

And if you really want to dive into HNS bureaucracy see www.swpho.nhs.uk

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If you just want the summary document contact Trevor.

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