The data was collected last year, using a questionnaire based on 67 items, covering things like weight, mental health and other well being areas.
It was the seventh time the survey has been carried out and this time some new questions were included, covering areas such as ‘out of home eating’ and ‘health literacy’.
The questions on weight found that levels of excess weight are high across all age groups in Guernsey and Alderney but have increased significantly in the age category 55-64 since 2013.
The data found that the increase for this subgroup has been due to an increase in both overweight and obesity. However, there is an increase in obesity when looking at the overall population, as opposed to increases in levels of overweight.
Results suggest that just over half of all islanders (56%) are now living with overweight or obesity. On average, men were more likely to have excess weight than women, with men aged 55–64 having the highest rate. That is 77% of men between 55 and 64-years-old are classed as overweight or obese.
Pictured: Being overweight can lead to a diagnosis of diabetes, or other conditions.
The Health and Wellbeing survey sought to gather data to create a snapshot of peoples’ weight as having excess weight is linked with a number of adverse health conditions including Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease and stroke, depression, joint and back pain and several cancers.
Social issues such as stigmatisation, bullying and low self-esteem can also be brought on through being overweigh or obese.
The survey was carried out by Island Data analysis which said: “As in 2013, we remain in a position where fewer people have a healthy weight than an unhealthy weight. In other words excess weight is now the more normal condition for adults living in our islands.
“We can expect that the personal and economic costs of this fact will be —and probably are already— substantial. Encouragingly many of those with excess weight reported a readiness to make positive lifestyle changes like losing weight and doing more physical activity. The task now will be to capitalise on this motivation to change by ensuring that in our islands we create the right overall environments to allow people to live in ways for healthy weights to be easily sustained. Additionally it will be important to provide people with the right support services for them, at the times they need them, so that intentions to change have the best possible chance of becoming a reality.”