The Health Survey for England (HSE) series is designed to monitor trends in the nation's health. The study provides regular information that cannot be obtained from other sources on a range of aspects concerning the public's health and many of the factors that affect health. The aims of the series are:
- To provide annual data about the nation’s health;
- To estimate the proportion of people in England with specified health conditions;
- To estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with these conditions;
- To examine differences between population subgroups in their likelihood of having specific conditions or risk factors;
- To assess the frequency with which particular combinations of risk factors are found, and which groups these combinations most commonly occur;
- To monitor progress towards selected health targets; and,
- Since 1995, measure the height of children at different ages, and to monitor the prevalence of obesity and overweight in children.
The survey is commissioned by NHS Digital and is carried out by the Joint Health Surveys Unit of the National Centre for Social Research and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London. The HSE provides data at both national and regional level and was designed to be representative of the population living in private households in England.
The survey focuses on different health issues each year, although a number of core questions are included every year. Topics covered in the 2018 survey included:
- General health,
- longstanding illnesses,
- Alcohol consumption,
- Smoking,
- Fruit and vegetable consumption,
- Socio-economic information,
- Physical activity in adults,
- Asthma, and
- Gambling.
In the survey section related to gambling behaviours, gambling activities that were surveyed included:
- Lotteries and related products,
- Machines/games,
- Betting activities, and
- Other gambling activities.
More information about the series can be found on the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) HSE website, the NatCen Social Research HSE website and the University College London Health and Social Surveys Research Group HSE website.
