Agenda item

The Deputy Director of Public Health and Health Improvement submits a report on the findings of the Leicester Health and Lifestyle Survey 2010.  The Committee is recommended to note the recommendations arising from this Survey and to comment as appropriate.

The Deputy Director of Public Health and Health Improvement submitted a report on the findings of the Leicester Health and Lifestyle Survey 2010, explaining that it provided an overview of self-reported health.  He further advised the Committee that it would form part of the Director of Health’s Annual Report 2009/10 and would be used as the basis for future improvement.

The Deputy Director of Public Health and Health Improvement drew particular attention to the following points:-

·            A sample size of just under 2,400 people aged 16+ (male and female) had been used for this survey.  This equated to approximately 100 people per Ward;

·            47% of the population of the City did not drink alcohol and a high proportion had never drunk it.  This was largely due to the high Black and Minority Ethnic population.  However, high drinking levels were concentrated in the remaining population, leading to high levels of resulting harm;

·            Levels of drug taking in the City were low;

·            With regard to diet, very few people did not eat any fruit and vegetables;

·            This survey recognised physical activities often not included in other surveys, so obtained different results to those surveys;

·            Responses to questions on sexual health showed quite high rates of condom use, but actual levels varied between different age groups;

·            Risk factors could be relevant to several issues, giving clustering of multiple risk factors.  For example, the survey showed that people who smoked more were less likely to eat well; and

·            It had been hoped that the report would be annual, but in view of current financial restraints, it now was likely to be undertaken every two years.

The Committee was concerned to note that only a quarter of respondents recognised the importance of not smoking.  One reason for this could be that, if smoking was taken for granted, people could be not noticing health warnings, or it could be that more publicity was needed for the message about the health implications of smoking.  This also applied to alcohol consumption.

At the invitation of the Committee, Councillor Naylor, Lead Member for Health and Community Safety, addressed the meeting.  He expressed disappointment that it would only be possible to undertake this valuable survey every two years and questioned whether it would be feasible to undertake it in conjunction with partners, such as the local universities.  In reply, the Deputy Director of Public Health and Health Improvement advised that a number of regular surveys had been curtailed by a number of bodies, due to financial restrictions.  The City Council currently was considering if it could do a survey of some kind, in conjunction with its partners, to cover the resulting gaps.

Councillor Naylor also drew attention to how some areas had improved.  It was noted that it was not known at present if these improvements had occurred as a result of health programmes, or whether factors such as ward boundary changes had produced these results.  Some “super-output areas” had been identified a few years ago, but more detailed analysis was needed to determine the influencing factors.

In reply to a question from the Committee, the Deputy Director of Public Health and Health Improvement advised that, if it was known that an area had a particular problem, targeted work was done in that area.  For example, this approach had been used to try to reduce the prevalence of smoking in certain areas.

In response to further questions, the Deputy Director of Public Health and Health Improvement advised that the sample used for this survey was statistically acceptable, but users of the data had to be aware of confidence levels in the data supplied.