South Gloucestershire is healthy – it’s official!
People living in South Gloucestershire are health-conscious and the least likely in the country to develop future health problems, according to a report published in January 2008 (the CACI/TNS HealthAcorn report).
The survey rated a number of primary care trust (PCT) regions in the South West highly, with South Gloucestershire ranked top with only 1.8 per cent of its residents likely to harbour future significant health problems. The average across the UK is 12.2 per cent.
So what makes South Gloucestershire so healthy? In short, you do!
* Between April and December 2007, 3000 residents joined Active for Life
* 230 walkers joined Walking to Health during the same period
* 40 to 50 patients are referred to the Exercise on Prescription scheme every month
* 2412 people attended Support to Stop Smoking sessions in 2007 and almost 50% succeeded
* Ther are currently 900 visits per week to the gym and 650 children enrolled on swimming lessons at the new Longwell Green Leisure Centre
South Gloucestershire’s schools have also been hard at work and have achieved the much sought after Beacon status for their continued focus on health and wellbeing.
That's not to mention the thousands of South Gloucestershire residents who walk, cycle, garden, play sport and keep healthy outside of our initiatives.
But this doesn’t mean we’re going to sit back and relax –there are still lots of areas within South Gloucestershire where people are more at risk of developing future health problems and this is where we intend to focus our efforts. We are never going to be complacent and will keep on helping people to live healthier lifestyles!