3. Results and feedback from the 'Health and Wellbeing' questions
When asked to score various aspects of their health and wellbeing between 0 and 10 where 0 is ‘not at all’ and 10 is ‘completely’:
- 89% of people rated their happiness yesterday as six or more.
- 89% of people gave a score of six or more to ‘to what extent do you feel the things you do in life are worthwhile.
- 83% rated their satisfaction with their life nowadays as six or more.
These results are all very similar to the 2015 results.
- On a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is ‘not at all anxious’ and 10 is ‘completely anxious’ 74% would rate their anxiety level as four or less. This is very similar to the 2015 result.
- 26% ate five or more portions of different fruit and vegetables the day before completing the questionnaire.
- When asked where they get most of their household’s groceries from the most popular answers were; 91% of respondents got them from supermarkets outside of Cranbrook, 28% from Cranbrook's Co-op, 13% from supermarkets online and 9% from farm shops.
- 26% felt they consumed more ‘free’ sugar than the recommended amount, 62% of those with children in their household felt their children consumed more than the recommended amount.
- 30% would like to reduce the amount of ‘free’ sugar their household consumes.
Health and wellbeing feedback from Public Health at East Devon District Council:
This was the second year that health and wellbeing questions were included in the questionnaire. We asked these questions because it is important for agencies to know how residents feel about their wellbeing. We will use this data to track wellbeing trends over time and to inform our activities and those of our partners.
It is encouraging to see the recorded ratings for happiness, feeling worthwhile, satisfaction with life, and anxiety levels. These results for 2016 are very similar to results for the same questions in 2015. It is reassuring that the scores for 2015 and 2016 are similar, although there is room for improvement.
Health and wellbeing are important considerations in the planning and development of Cranbrook as a vibrant new town. East Devon District Council, Action East Devon, Devon County Council, the Clinical Commissioning Group, Cranbrook’s schools and the GP practice are working together along with the Town Council and other partners. Results of the questionnaire will be shared with these partners.
In 2016 Cranbrook gained a place in NHS England’s healthy new towns programme, for which the priority workstreams for Cranbrook’s activities for the first year of the programme were: healthy schooling; new models of care; physical activity; imaginative health messaging; healthy built environment. In 2017 the programme will focus more on new models of delivering care.
This health and wellbeing information collected from you at the start of this programme has provided a base line against which progress of the healthy new towns programme can be monitored.
Sugar, fruit and vegetable feedback from Public Health at Devon County Council:
The results from this survey will be very useful to us to inform local action to create and support a healthier environment in Cranbrook.
The survey results show that 26% of respondents ate 5 or more different fruit and vegetables the day before completing the questionnaire, which is significantly lower than the national average of 52.3%.
Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables is important for health, helping reduce the risk of many conditions including heart disease, bowel cancer and can even help with weight loss and maintenance. It is therefore important that as a community Cranbrook considers what would help them to increase fruit and vegetable consumption locally. This could include raising awareness through school initiatives, cooking clubs or growing projects for example, many of which are already running or being discussed by local people.
The results have also shown us that 91% of respondents obtain their household groceries from supermarkets outside Cranbrook, which brings travel implications and will be used to inform local infrastructure developments.
These two aspects of the survey indicate that it may also be important to ensure there are the facilities for a food market which provides local, fresh food to Cranbrook. This can feed into the work of the Exeter Food Network, who are looking to improve access to local food in partnership with local Devon farmers.
Some respondents also expressed a concern about the amount of sugar they eat, although only 26% of adults thought they consumed more than the recommended 7 teaspoons a day and 62% thought their children consume more than the recommended 5-6 teaspoons per day. These results do not mirror what we know about sugar consumption nationally, with adult’s average consumption being double the recommended amount and young people consuming up to three times the recommendations.
The recent Sugar Smart Exeter survey found that many people feel unable to identify how much sugar they are consuming. We know that it is not a straight forward task and it can be hard to navigate with the extensive amount of products available. The results from this survey therefore strongly support the involvement of Cranbrook in the Sugar Smart campaign. This initiative raises awareness of the effects of high sugar intake on health, the amount of hidden sugar we consume on a regular basis and aims to change the food environment to make healthy choices easier for us all.
As a community led initiative, it is open for anyone who wants to lead the way in Cranbrook, with the support of the nearby Sugar Smart Exeter campaign and the national Jamie Oliver Food Foundation and Sustain teams. More information can be found at www.sugarsmartuk.org