Most alcohol drinkers exceeded the recommended intake
Results from the survey indicate that most adults had
drunk alcohol in the last week (73% of men and 57% of women).
Among those adults who said they drank in the last week, 59% of
men and 55% of women exceeded the current recommended daily alcohol
intake on at least one day.
26% of men and 15% of women drank more than twice the recommended
level.
When asked about their attitudes towards alcohol, the majority of
adults believed that 'drinking is a
major part of the British way of life'.
However, only a minority of adults agreed that
'there is nothing wrong with people
getting drunk regularly'.
Back to topLess than a third of adults eat the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables
Only 27% of men and 31% of women ate the recommended five
or more portions of fruit or vegetables per day.
However, considerably more knew that the recommended number of
portions of fruit and vegetables per day is five - 78% of women and
62% of men.
When asked about their attitudes towards healthy eating, more
women than men agreed that 'healthy foods are enjoyable' and 'I
really care about what I eat'.
Back to topMost people don't know how much physical activity the government recommends
About a quarter of adults thought they knew how much
physical activity the government recommends we do.
However, when asked how much physical activity they think people
their age should do, fewer than 1 in 10 were able to specify the
minimum recommended amount, while a quarter overestimated.
A high proportion of men and women aged 16-64 perceived themselves
to be either very or fairly physically active compared with other
people in their age group (75% of men and 67% of women).
When asked specifically about barriers to doing more physical
activity, 45% of men and 34% of women quoted work commitments and
38% of men and 37% of women quoted lack of leisure time.
You can read more about this series of
surveys here.
Back to topSmokers reported cutting down on cigarettes after the introduction of the smokefree legislation in July 2007
The proportion of adults smoking did not decrease in the
six months following the introduction of the smokefree legislation
in July 2007. However, 40% of male smokers and 41% of female
smokers interviewed after the ban started said that it had made
them reduce the number of cigarettes they smoked.
One third of smokers reported that the introduction of the
smokefree legislation had encouraged them to stay at home where
they could smoke. Despite this, there was no evidence of an
increase in passive smoking among children.
Most children aged 13-15 were aware that there were health risks
from breathing in other people's smoke - coughing, asthma and
cancer were the risks most likely to be mentioned.
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