A report rated supermarket giants on healthy eating. The supermarkets with the poorest ratings were also those with the largest proportion of low-income shoppers.
Source: Sue Dibb, Rating Retailers for Health: How supermarkets can affect your chances of a healthy diet, National Consumer Council (020 7730 3469)
Links: Report (pdf) | NCC press release | HDA press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A new book examined the responsiveness of the healthcare system to the special needs of workers. Economically active workers saw their family doctor with more than 2 million episodes each year of occupational ill-health: but fewer than 3 per cent of organizations adopted adequate management of their occupational health risks.
Source: Kevin Holland-Elliott (ed.), What about the Workers?, Royal Society of Medicine Press (020 7290 2921)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Dec
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on obesity. It welcomed the 'thorough and comprehensive investigation' of the issues involved.
Source: Government Response to the Health Select Committee s Report on Obesity, Cm 6438, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response (pdf) | MPs report
Date: 2004-Dec
A survey found that peer pressure and the threat of bullying were prompting schoolchildren to choose highly processed snacks and fast foods over healthy options.
Source: Anna Ludvigsen and Neera Sharma, Burger Boy and Sporty Girl: Children and young people's attitudes toward food in school, Barnardo s (01268 520224)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
A trade union survey found that stress, repetitive strain injuries, and back strains were the top three health hazards facing workers. The problems were getting worse, with employers still failing to protect their staff from ill health or serious injury.
Source: Focus on Health and Safety: TUC biennial survey of safety reps 2004, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294)
Links: Report (pdf) | TUC press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A report highlighted the extent of the 'smoking epidemic' in England. Over 1,600 people were estimated to die from smoking each week: approximately 62 per cent of these deaths were among men. There were 'worrying differences' in smoking prevalence, with higher levels of smoking found in disadvantaged areas.
Source: Liz Twigg, Graham Moon and Sarah Walker, The Smoking Epidemic in England, Health Development Agency (020 7430 0850)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | HDA press release | ASH press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A report brought together available surveillance information on HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United Kingdom, and the behaviours that underpinned their transmission. By the end of 2003 there were an estimated 53,000 people living with HIV, of whom, 14,300 (27 per cent) were unaware of their infection. This high level of infection was due to sustained levels (and a possible increase) of HIV transmission in men who had sex with men, and continued migration of HIV-infected heterosexual men and women from sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: UK Collaborative Group for HIV and STI Surveillance, Focus on Prevention: HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in the United Kingdom in 2003, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections (020 7339 1300)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report (pdf links) | HPA press release | National Aids Trust press release | Brook press release | FPA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
Provisional results were published of a major survey designed to track changes in the health of people in Wales. Topics covered were illness, health status, health service use, and health-related lifestyle. A limiting long-term illness was reported by 28 per cent of adults and 5 per cent of children.
Source: Welsh Health Survey: October 2003-March 2004 (provisional results), Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5050)
Links: Report (pdf) | WAG press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A report set out statistics on work-related fatalities, injuries and ill-health in Great Britain for 2003-04.
Source: Health and Safety Statistics Highlights 2003-04, Health and Safety Executive, HSE Books (01787 881165)
Links: Report (pdf) | HSE press release | TUC press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A briefing paper examined health issues in housing. It drew on examples of innovation in approach and good practice to investigate areas such as strategic planning, assistive technology, housing conditions and health inequalities, safety, security and well-being, housing choices and diversity.
Source: Health and Housing, Good Practice Briefing 29, Chartered Institute of Housing (024 7685 1700)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Oct
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the work of the Health and Safety Executive. It said that it was preparing proposals for removal of Crown immunity, and greater penalties for health and safety offences, to be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allowed. Trade unions described the government's response as a 'wasted opportunity' to increase the rights of safety representatives and worker consultation on safety.
Source: Government Response to the Committee's Fourth Report into the Work of the Health and Safety Commission and Executive, Third Special Report (Session 2003-04), HC 1137, House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 27 October 2004, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294)
Links: Response | MPs report | TUC press release
Date: 2004-Oct
Research found that the images young people saw of those who smoked, drank, or took drugs had a greater impact on their behaviour than anything others might say to them.
Source: Paschal Sheeran, Unconscious Effects of Prototypes on Young People's Health and Social Behaviour, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A study found that the number of teenagers smoking remained 'worryingly high', with girls twice as likely as boys to take it up. Targeting young people aged 11-14 was not enough to deter them from taking up smoking a couple of years later.
Source: Mark Conner et al., Understanding Adolescent Smoking Initiation: A four-year longitudinal study, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
A statistical bulletin presented the most up-to-date information available on alcohol use and misuse. In England in 2002, around two-fifths (37 per cent) of men had drunk more than 4 units of alcohol on at least one day in the previous week: just over one-fifth of women (22 per cent) had drunk more than 3 units of alcohol on at least one day in the previous week. In 2003, a quarter (25 per cent) of pupils in England aged 11-15 had drunk alcohol in the previous week; the proportion doing so had fluctuated around this level since the mid 1990s. In the United Kingdom, expenditure on alcohol as a proportion of total household expenditure had fallen from 7.5 per cent in 1980 to 5.7 per cent in 2003.
Source: Statistics on Alcohol: England, 2004, Statistical Bulletin 2004/15, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Bulletin (pdf)
Date: 2004-Sep
A survey found that 3 out of 4 lunchboxes for children failed to meet official nutritional standards for school meals.
Source: Angie Jefferson and Kathy Cowbrough, School Lunch Box Survey 2004, Food Standards Agency (020 7276 8000)
Links: Report (pdf) | FSA press release
Date: 2004-Sep
A report summarized the available evidence on the prevention and/or reduction of illicit drug use among young people.
Source: Una Canning, Louise Millward, Thara Raj and Daniel Warm, Drug Use Prevention among Young People: Review of reviews, Health Development Agency (020 7430 0850)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | HDA press release
Date: 2004-Sep
A report accused the government of failing to tackle the HIV/Aids crisis. It said that sexual health had dropped off the list of national priorities, with anti-HIV funds no longer ring-fenced: this had led to a drop in education and prevention programmes, and long waiting times for tests. People at high risk of infection, including prostitutes and injecting drug users, were treated as criminals.
Source: Delphine Valette, The UK Response to the HIV Epidemic: An Assessment of the UK s compliance with the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, National Aids Trust (020 7814 6767)
Links: Report (Word file) | Summary (Word file) | NAT press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Aug
Statistics were published on work-related ill-health in Great Britain in 2003-04. The most common types of work-related illness were musculoskeletal disorders in particular those affecting the back and upper limbs and mental ill-health (mainly stress, depression and anxiety). Each of these accounted for around a third of the total incidence.
Source: Occupational Health Statistics Bulletin 2003/04, Health and Safety Executive, (0151 951 3479)
Links: Bulletin (pdf) | HSE press release
Date: 2004-Aug
Among those aged 11-15 in England in 2003, prevalence of drug taking increased slightly (from 20 per cent to 21 per cent), compared to the previous year. Among those aged 16-24 year in England and Wales in 2002-03, drug taking decreased slightly (from 30 per cent to 28 per cent).
Source: Statistics on Young People and Drug Misuse: England, 2003, Statistical Bulletin 2004/13, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Bulletin (pdf)
Date: 2004-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs said that the Health and Safety Commission was constrained by inadequate resources, seriously affecting its ability to deliver core activities adequately. It urged a doubling of the number of inspectors.
Source: The Work of the Health and Safety Commission and Executive, Fourth Report (Session 2003-04), HC 456-I, House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | HSE press release | RSPH press release | HSE press release | TUC press release
Date: 2004-Jul
The Health and Safety Commission published its annual report for 2003-04.
Source: The Health and Safety Commission Annual Report and the Health and Safety Commission/Executive Accounts 2003/2004, Health and Safety Executive, HSE Books (01787 881165)
Links: Report (pdf) | HSE press release
Date: 2004-Jul
The number of people using National Health Service smoking cessation services who said they had stopped smoking at the 4-week reporting point increased from 124,100 in 2002-03 to 204,200 in 2003-04, a 65 per cent increase.
Source: Statistics on Stop Smoking Services in England: April 2003 to March 2004, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report | DH press release
Date: 2004-Jul
A survey found that 68 per cent of smokers said they did not smoke at all when they were in a room with a child, compared with 66 per cent in 2002 and 63 per cent in 2001. About four-fifths or more of those interviewed agreed that there should be restrictions on smoking at work (86 per cent), in restaurants (87 per cent), in indoor shopping centres (85 per cent), in indoor sports and leisure centres (91 per cent), in indoor areas at railway and bus stations (78 per cent) and in other public places such as banks and post offices (90 per cent). A smaller percentage of respondents, 56 per cent, thought that smoking should be restricted in pubs.
Source: Deborah Lader and Eileen Goddard, Smoking-related Behaviour and Attitudes, 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
A report said that, even among groups such as white-collar civil servants, those who were less well off had shorter lives and experienced more illness than those who were better off.
Source: Jane Ferrie (ed.), Work, Stress and Health: The Whitehall II study, Public and Commercial Services Union (020 924 2727), on behalf of Council of Civil Service Unions and Cabinet Office
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jul
A briefing paper said that people with asthma were more than twice as likely to live in damp houses; and that children had a greater prevalence of respiratory symptoms, as well as headaches and fevers, compared to children in dry houses.
Source: Housing and the Asthma Epidemic in Wales, Shelter Cymru (01792 469400)
Links: Report (pdf) | Shelter press release | BBC report
Date: 2004-Jul
An independent advisory group called on the government to do more to reduce sexually transmitted infections, by tackling the stigma associated with them and by making prevention a key part of the nation s broader public health agenda.
Source: Response to Government White Paper: 'Choosing Health?', Independent Advisory Group for Sexual Health and HIV/Department of Health (mailto:Sexual_Health_IAG@doh.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Report (pdf) | IAG press release (Word file)
Date: 2004-Jun
Campaigners published a blueprint for redesigning sexual health services to tackle the sharp rise in demand for, and under-investment in, services. They said that a comprehensive and collaborative overhaul of prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care services was necessary, to make it easier for people to look after their sexual health and bring rates of infections down.
Source: Blueprint for the Future: Modernising HIV & sexual health services, Terrence Higgins Trust (020 7831 0330)
Links: Report (pdf) | THT press release
Date: 2004-Jun
The Health Secretary said that low incomes, single parenthood, large families, or immobility could all constitute 'huge barriers' to healthy eating.
Source: Speech by John Reid MP (Secretary of State for Health) 10 June 2004
Links: Text of speech
Date: 2004-Jun
A briefing note looked at the potential for the introduction of a fat tax in an effort to reduce the growing prevalence of obesity. It included an analysis of a hypothetical tax in terms of how it might impact differently on the rich and the poor.
Source: Andrew Leicester and Frank Windmeijer, The Fat Tax : Economic incentives to reduce obesity, Briefing Note 49, Institute for Fiscal Studies (web publication only)
Links: Briefing Note (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jun
The Health Secretary reportedly said that smoking was 'one of the few pleasures' that poorer people had; and that smoking was not the worst problem faced by people living on deprived estates. His comments were attacked by doctors and health campaigners, who sent a joint letter calling for a ban on smoking in workplaces and enclosed public places. The Prime Minister said that the government was considering such a ban.
Source: The Guardian, 9 June 2004 | Press release 9 June 2004, Royal Society for the Promotion of Health (020 7630 0121) | Press release 9 June 2004, Action on Smoking and Health (020 7739 5902)
Links: RSPH press release | ASH press release (1) | ASH press release (2) | Text of letter (pdf) | BHF press release | TUC press release | Guardian report (1) 9 June | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3)
Date: 2004-Jun
A survey of child health (in 35 countries in Europe and North America) revealed high levels of alcohol abuse and unprotected sex among young people aged 11-15 in Britain.
Source: C. Currie et al., Young People's Health in Context: Health behaviour in school-aged children, World Health Organisation (mailto:bookorders@who.int)
Links: Summary | Children Now report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
A briefing collated review-level evidence of interventions to increase smoking cessation, reduce smoking initiation and prevent further uptake of smoking. It also examined interventions targeted at pregnant women, and evidence for tackling health inequalities in smoking. It found 'significant' gaps in the evidence base.
Source: Bhash Naidoo with Daniel Warm, Robert Quigley and Lorraine Taylor, Smoking and Public Health: Review of reviews of interventions to increase smoking cessation, reduce smoking initiation and prevent further uptake of smoking, Health Development Agency (020 7430 0850)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
A report reviewed existing evidence on the impact of overcrowded housing on people's health and education.
Source: Tim Brown, Rob Baggott, Ros Hunt and Kathryn Jones, The Impact of Overcrowding on Health & Education: Review of the evidence and literature, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Shelter press release
Date: 2004-May
A private member's Bill was introduced which would require the Food Standards Agency to draw up guidelines on healthy and unhealthy foods: these would then be used to inform a ban on the promotion of unhealthy foods to children. It also called for tighter regulation of school meals, and a ban on the sale of unhealthy foods in school vending machines.
Source: Debra Shipley MP, Children's Food Bill, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-May
A report by a committee of MPs said that around two-thirds of the population of England were overweight or obese. Obesity had grown by almost 400 per cent in the previous 25 years, and would soon surpass smoking as the greatest cause of premature loss of life, entailing levels of sickness that would put enormous strains on the health service. On some predictions, today's generation of children would be the first for over a century for whom life expectancy fell.
Source: Obesity, Third Report (Session 2003-04), HC 23, House of Commons Health Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | DH press release | HDA press release | Food Commission press release | CPAG press release | Barnardo's press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-May
Campaigners said that more than a million children were growing up in squalid housing that was damaging their health, education and life prospects.
Source: Sarah Jones, Toying with their Future: The hidden cost of the housing crisis, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report (pdf) | Shelter press release | National Energy Action press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Apr
The 2003 annual report of Scotland's Chief Medical Officer highlighted tobacco use as the greatest risk factor to the health of Scotland's people.
Source: Health in Scotland 2003, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Report
Date: 2004-Apr
A new book argued that rather than treating sex and drugs including alcohol as separate education issues, it was necessary to help young people understand the links between them, so that they could manage the risks they might face more effectively.
Source: Jeanie Lynch and Simon Blake, Sex, Alcohol and Other Drugs: Exploring the links in young people s lives, National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6029)
Links: NCB press release
Date: 2004-Apr
An article said that children's waistlines had expanded by two clothing sizes in the space of 20 years.
Source: Mary Rudolf et al., 'Rising obesity and expanding waistlines in schoolchildren: a cohort study', Archives of Disease in Childhood, Volume 89, Number 3
Links: Abstract | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A survey in 2003 of children aged 11-15 found that 21 per cent had taken drugs in the previous year (an increase from 20 per cent in 2002 and 2001); 12 per cent had taken drugs in the previous month (unchanged); 9 per cent were regular smokers (down from 10 per cent in 2002) and 25 per cent had drunk alcohol in the previous week (24 per cent in 2002).
Source: Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking among Young People in England in 2003: Headline figures, Department of Health (020 7972 5581)
Links: Report (pdf) | DH press release
Date: 2004-Mar
A report contained an analysis of health and health-related behaviour among those aged under 20 years in the United Kingdom during the period 1990 to 2001.
Source: The Health of Children and Young People, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Report (pdf links) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
Official guidance provided advice on positive shared outcomes that the government would like to see local authorities, primary care trusts and other partners achieve on health and homelessness.
Source: Achieving Positive Shared Outcomes in Health and Homelessness, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Guidance (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
Medical researchers warned of the increasing danger to individuals health from the growing consumption of alcohol, and the spiralling costs of alcohol-related illness to the National Health Service.
Source: Calling Time: The nation s drinking as a major health issue, Academy of Medical Sciences (020 7969 5288)
Links: Report (pdf) | AMS press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
The number of smokers in England fell in 2003. Statistics showed that around 26 per cent of people aged over 16 smoked, compared to 28 per cent in 1998 - suggesting that the government was on track to meet the target of 24 per cent by 2010. Smoking prevalence among manual workers decreased from 33 per cent to 31 per cent.
Source: Press release 18 March 2004, Department of Health (020 7972 5581)
Links: DH press release
Date: 2004-Mar
A briefing paper reported on a study of the role of cannabis in young people's lives during their early teenage years. Interviews explored cannabis-related beliefs and behaviour of young people aged 13-15 within the context of their everyday lives.
Source: Gill Highet, Young People, Cannabis and Family Life, Research Briefing 14, Centre for Research on Families and Relationships/University of Edinburgh (0131 651 1832)
Links: Briefing (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
The National Radiological Protection Board urged the government to make drastic changes to its safety guidelines after reviewing the health effects of electromagnetic fields from powerlines and electrical devices. It said the safety limits on exposure should be five times lower than their existing level.
Source: Press release 31 March 2004, National Radiological Protection Board (01235 831600)
Links: NRPB press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
The government published its alcohol harm reduction strategy for England. The strategy put joint action at the heart of a series of measures designed to tackle alcohol-related disorder in town and city centres; improve treatment and support for people with alcohol problems; clamp down on irresponsible promotions by the industry; and provide better information to consumers about the dangers of alcohol misuse. Campaigners and medical researchers said that the strategy did not go far enough.
Source: Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy For England, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881) | Press release 15 March 2004, Academy of Medical Sciences (020 7969 5288) | Press release 15 March 2004, Alcohol Concern (020 7928 7377)
Links: Report (pdf) | HDA press release | AMS press release (pdf) | Alcohol Concern press release | Portman Group press release | RCPsych press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2004-Mar
A report explored the characteristics and life experiences of homeless people whose lives were impaired by poor health, chaotic lifestyles, and limited opportunities.
Source: Clare Croft-White and Georgie Parry-Crooke, Lost Voices: The invisibility of homeless people with multiple needs, Crisis (020 7015 1800)
Links: Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
A pamphlet said that homeless people needed better access to smoking cessation services. 90 percent of rough sleepers smoked, and they were more likely to smoke high-tar cigarettes and butts from bins, inhale more deeply and leave a shorter stub. This made them more vulnerable to infections and respiratory diseases leading to premature death.
Source: Smoking, Homelessness and Health, Health Development Agency (020 7430 0850)
Links: Pamphlet (pdf) | HDA press release
Date: 2004-Feb
A research report examined homeless people's eating habits. It looked at the kind of food homeless people were eating and how easy they found it to eat healthily.
Source: Alison Gelder, Struggling to Eat Well: Homelessness and healthy eating, Housing Justice (020 7723 7273)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Feb
Doctors called on the government and food industry to take urgent action to tackle the 'terrifying health consequences' of increasing levels of obesity. They warned that, if trends continued, at least a third of adults, a fifth of boys and a third of girls would be obese by 2020.
Source: Storing up Problems: The medical case for a slimmer nation, Royal College of Physicians (020 7935 117), Faculty of Public Health, and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Links: Summary | Recommendations (pdf) | RCP press release | HDA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
Doctors reported that smoking damaged almost all aspects of sexual, reproductive and child health.
Source: Smoking and Reproductive Life: The impact of smoking on sexual, reproductive and child health, British Medical Association (020 7383 6164)
Links: Summary | BMA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
A quarter of men and one fifth of women aged 19-64 who took part in the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey (carried out in 2000 and 2001) were found to be obese. The proportion of obese adults had risen considerably since the previous survey in 1987, when only 8 per cent of men and 12 per cent of women were obese.
Source: Dave Ruston et al., The National Diet & Nutrition Survey: Volume 4 - Adults aged 19 to 64 years, Food Standards Agency and Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | FSA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
Health agencies reported that newly diagnosed cases of HIV increased by 20 per cent between 2002 and 2003, and described the rise as 'a cause for considerable concern'.
Source: Aids/ HIV Quarterly Surveillance Tables: Cumulative UK data to end December 2003, Health Protection Agency (020 7339 1300), Scottish Centre For Infection and Environmental Health, and Institute of Child Health
Links: Report (pdf) | HPA press release | National Aids Trust press release | THT press release
Date: 2004-Feb
The Scottish Executive published an action plan on tobacco. It contained a range of measures, including: a consultation on smoking in public places; an additional 4 million to help Scots stop smoking; action on prevention and education, supplemented by a communications programme to inform people of the dangers of smoking, both to themselves and others; and further controls to reduce the availability of cigarettes to children and young people.
Source: A Breath of Fresh Air for Scotland: Improving Scotland's health - the challenge: Tobacco control action plan, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2004-Jan
A report described an analysis of a survey designed to establish whether there were any links between occupation and psychological morbidity. It said that high rates of common mental disorder in some occupations might be due to high levels of job demands and expectations, and the high emotional demands of working with people.
Source: Stephen Stansfeld, Jenny Head, Farhat Rasul and Nicola Singleton, Occupation and Mental Health: Secondary analyses of the ONS Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of Great Britain, RR168, Health and Safety Executive, HSE Books (01787 881165)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jan
