Is bad diet now a bigger killer than drinking or smoking?

Thursday 24 November 2016

A new health report has found that smoking and drinking rates in Jersey are falling - but bad diet is emerging as a bigger threat to our health, with more than half the Island being overweight or obese.

The Jersey Health Profile 2016 says drinking in Jersey has dropped by 3.5 litres per head from 2005 to 2015, with Islanders now consuming an average of 11.5 litres of pure alcohol a year – the equivalent of 29 bottles of spirits, 128 bottles of wine, 383 large glasses of wine, or 506 pints of beer.

Smoking too, seems to be on the decline, with the proportion of Islanders who smoke every day dropping from 19% in 2005 to 12% in 2015. 

However, health officials are drawing attention to the increasing problems caused by bad diet. According to these latest figures, 51% of people in Jersey are overweight or obese, compared to 65% of people in England, and 53% of people in the EU. 55-64 year-old men are the most likely people in Jersey to be overweight or obese, with 72% of this age group having a BMI over 25.

Head of Health Improvement, Martin Knight, commented: “There is a commitment in the States of Jersey’s Strategic Plan to ‘do more to support healthier lifestyles and to help reduce preventable disease’. 

“This new report shows that smoking and alcohol risks, although still too high, are continual improving. We now need to ensure continued efforts through our States of Jersey alcohol and tobacco strategies to keep the momentum. Internationally, dietary risks are now known to have overtaken smoking and alcohol as causing the highest burden on health. The data from this report with findings such as 51% of the adult population are overweight and obese, and increasing, confirms this is likely to be the case in our Island population too.”

However, it seems we are doing better than Guernsey - here, 40% of women and 33% of men eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, compared to 25% of men and 28% of women in England, and just 19% of men, and 22% of women in Guernsey!

Overall, the report says that cancer remains the biggest cause of death in Jersey - 34% of deaths in Jersey were from cancer between 2013-2015, 26% from circulatory (cardiovascular diseases), and 11% from respiratory diseases.

Smoking in Jersey is more common in men than women, with 22% of men reported as smoking every day, compared to 15% of women. Tobacco consumption has also dropped from 2010-2014 with male smokers consuming 15 cigarettes a day, down from 17, and female smokers 11 a day, down from 14. Data taken from the Jersey Annual Social Survey showed 4% of islanders used e-cigarettes from 2014-2015.

From 2012-2014 there were 45 alcohol-related deaths in Jersey – 76% from alcoholic liver disease. One in four local drinkers are drinking at harmful levels, while an estimated 20,000 islanders have potentially harmful drinking behaviours.

Half of adults drink at least twice a week, with 23% of men and 13% of women drinking at least four times a week, although 10% of islanders never drink alcohol.

Drinking behaviour didn’t differ by educational levels, however it varied greatly by place of birth, with 42% of Jersey-born residents and 56% of British-born residents drinking at least twice a week, compared to 34% of those born outside the British Isles.