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Welsh 'Are the Unhealthiest People in UK ; Survey Claims a Nation of Overweight Pill-Poppers

Posted on: Thursday, 28 July 2005, 09:01 CDT

ALMOST half of adults in Wales regularly take pills handed out by their GP, a survey of the nation's health revealed yesterday.

One in six consulted their doctor in the previous two weeks, with threequarters receiving a prescription.

A similar number also attended a hospital outpatients' department during the last three months.

Doctors said it showed people in Wales were less healthy than the rest of the UK.

Welsh health minister Dr Brian Gibbons said the findings set out the challenge faced by the NHS and the Assembly to persuade people to look after their health and improve lifestyles.

Dr Gibbons said: 'The findings will provide the basis from which future progress towards creating a healthier Wales will be measured.

' This information helps us to plan services for the future but it also shows the scale of the challenge we face in encouraging people to opt for healthier lifestyles.

'We need to work together to improve levels of physical activity, improve our diets, reduce smoking still further and protect people from second-hand smoke, and make sure the sensible drinking message is heard and acted upon.'

The Assembly-commissioned survey involved more than 16,000 adults and 4,300 children, with findings collected between October 2003 and September 2004. It was the first full year of the new survey.

Richard Lewis, Welsh secretary ofthe British Medical Association, said the interpretation of figures needed care because people who were sick were more likely to complete a questionnaire as part of the study.

'Some 28% of adults in the survey had a limiting long term illness which was likely to require medication,' he said.

' There is considerable work to be done in Wales to ensure our health services are running to the standards required to treat the population because time and again surveys show higher levels of morbidity, chronic illhealth and illness than elsewhere in the UK.' GPs remained careful not to overprescribe for patients but to alleviate symptoms, he said.

But lifestyles and long waits for treatment could also increase the demand for medicines Almost four out of five adults (78%) said they were healthy (16% said their general health was excellent, 34% very good, 28% good). 15% said their health was 'fair', and 6% 'poor48% of adults reported being on regular prescribed medication.

n 18% of adults were being treated for high blood pressure, 14% for arthritis13% for respiratory illness, 12% for back pain, 10% for a heart condition (other than high blood pressure), 9% for mental illness, 5% for diabetes, and 4% for cancer5% of children and 28% of adults report having a limiting long-term illness.

Health-related lifestyle of adults 26% smoke 20% reported binge drinking on at least one day in the past week

Source: Daily Post; Liverpool

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