Food & Health Alliance

The report consists of a number of chapters dedicated to different aspects of health. Chapter 6 of the report focuses on Physical Activity, Chapter 7 Obesity and Chapter 8 Cardiovacsular Disease and Diabetes.

Physical Activity Summary Adults:

The physical activity questions collected details of people's participation in housework, manual work/gardening/ DIY, walking, sports and exercise in the last four weeks.

The proportion of the population aged 16 to 74 participating in any physical activity for at least 15 minutes in the last four weeks increased from 80% in 1998 to 83% in 2008 in men, and from 80% to 82% in women aged 16 to 74. However, for both men and women, rates of participation were the same in 2003 and 2008.

The proportions of men and women aged 16 to 74 meeting the physical activity recommendations (30 minutes of at least moderate exercise on most days of the week) increased significantly from 40% in 1998 to 46% in 2008 in men, and from 29% in 1998 to 35% in 2008 in women.

From 2008, activities of 10-14 minutes duration are also being counted. Including activities of at least 10 minutes duration, in 2008 the most common activity type in the past 4 weeks among men was sports and exercise (54%), followed by heavy housework (47%) and walking (39%). For women, the most common activity type was heavy housework (63%) followed by sports and exercise (45%) and walking (32%).

39% of adults aged 16 and over in 2008 met the physical activity recommendations, 45% of men and 33% of women. The Scottish Government's target is for 50% of adults to meet the recommendations by 2022. Men and women in the younger age groups were more likely to meet the recommendations than their older counterparts. Men in all age groups were consistently more likely to meet the recommendations than were women.

Regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between a range of factors and the odds of meeting the physical activity recommendations. The odds of men and women being highly active decreased with age, increased with equivalised income, were lower among those who were overweight or obese, and were also associated with socio-economic classification. In addition, area deprivation was significant for men, and parental socio-economic classification was significant for women.

Obesity Summary:

In 2008 the majority of adults aged 16 or over (68.5% of men and 61.8% of women) were either overweight ( BMI of 25 to less than 30 kg/m 2) or obese ( BMI of 30 kg/m 2 and over). Overall obesity prevalence in 2008 was 26.0% for men and 27.5% for women.

There has been a steady upward trend in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among both sexes aged 16 to 64 since 1995. 55.6% of men aged 16-64 were overweight or obese in 1995 compared with 66.3% in 2008. The equivalent increase for women was from 47.2% to 59.6%.

Supplementary Data

This report is accompanied by a supplementary publication providing further data in relation to physical activity at work, location of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and the physical activity levels of children.