THE RESULTS of a survey published this week revealed that a quarter of Welsh adults are classed as obese, and a third took less than half an hour of exercise each week.
The latest Welsh Health survey found that 60% of the Welsh population is classed as overweight, while one in four is considered obese in what Conservative health spokesman Darren Millar AM described as ‘a ticking time bomb’.
The proportion of Welsh people who are overweight or obese has risen from 57.5% in 2014 to 59.4% in 2015, while 23.5% of people aged 16 and over are currently obese – up 1.3% from the previous year.
Mr Millar described the survey results as a: “very real indicator of the Welsh Government’s failure to get a handle on what is fast becoming a public health timebomb”.
“Alarmingly, worsening from last year, one in every four adults in Wales is now classed as obese.
“A contributing factor to this is that less than a third of people are eating fruit and veg or taking regular exercise, and 40% of people are drinking too much alcohol – the combination of which can be catastrophic for your health in the longer term,” he added.
However, progress has been made in terms of alcohol consumption, with the lowest number of Welsh people since the survey began drinking more than the recommended guidelines – 39.6%.
The number of smokers is also the lowest recorded since 2003, when the survey was first taken, at 19%. 6% of the over-16 population use e-cigs which could be viewed as a factor in the reduction in the number of smokers.
The minister for Social Services and Public Health, Rebecca Evans AM, claimed that the WG was on track with its aim to reduce the number of smokers to 16% by 2020. However, she accepted that there were still ‘areas where work needs to be done.’
“We need to make more progress on obesity and activity levels, and I am confident our decision to integrate grassroots sport and health policy will help us do this,” Ms Evans added.
The Director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, Vanessa Young, said: “While there is some positive news, with smoking rates coming down, the figures for obesity and alcohol consumption still remain high, and a significant number of us are not taking part in enough physical activity.
“It is also concerning that more than half of adults said they were currently being treated for an illness.
“Not only is living healthier, more active lifestyles good for our health and wellbeing, it also helps us to reduce demand on our health services. We would therefore encourage people to work alongside the NHS to do what they can to improve their health and wellbeing.”
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