Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021- 2022
Statistical publication providing information on the Health and Wellbeing Census 2021/22.
Physical health
The picture is mixed across the range of health, diet, physical activity and sleep measures by stage.
Children and young people’s perception of having good or excellent general health decreases from P5 to S4. However, there is an uptick for pupils in S5 and S6 who were more likely to agree that their general health was good or excellent.
Looking across pupils from P5 to S6, the percentage eating breakfast every day on a week day decreases sharply, reflected in a sharp increase in never eating breakfast on a week day. However, there are also changes in diet when looking across stages: the prevalence of eating chips, crisps, sweets and fruit at least once a day decreases as pupils get older, and the percentage eating vegetables at least once a day increases as pupils get older (with a decrease in the percentage who never eat vegetables). Notably, the percentage of pupils in P7 – S6 saying they never go to bed or school hungry increases as pupils get older.
The analysis indicates physical activity decreases with stage as pupils move into secondary school and into the senior phase. The percentage of pupils who did two hours or more of physical activity yesterday increases between P5 to P7 but decreases with stage throughout secondary stages. Similarly, the average hours sleep on a school night decreases as pupils get older. The percentage of pupils who get on average 6 hours or less sleep a night increases with age.
There are fewer differences by pupil sex in the physical health measures. However, girls are less likely to agree their general health was good or excellent; are more likely to report never eating breakfast on a week day; less likely to do physical activity in their free time every day; and more likely to have done less than an hour or no physical activity yesterday (boys were more likely to have done two hours or more physical activity yesterday).
Analysis by deprivation indicates that children and young people from most deprived areas are less likely to say that their general health is good or excellent; are less likely to always have breakfast on a week day; are more likely to drink coke or other soft drinks that contain sugar at least once a day; are more likely to eat chips or fried potatoes at least once a day; are less likely to eat fruit and vegetables at least once a day; are less likely to never go to bed or school hungry.
Those from the most deprived areas are also less likely to undertake 2 hours or more physical activity in their free time (and more likely to have done no or less than one hour of physical activity yesterday); are less likely to do any physical activity in their free time every day or at least once a week; and are less likely to sleep on average at least 8 hours on a school night (and more likely to get on average 6 hours or less sleep on a school night).
Table 10 Percentage of pupils responding to a range of questions in relation to their health, diet, physical activity and sleep, by question asked, response given and pupil stage
Survey question |
Pupil Response |
P5 |
P6 |
P7 |
S1 |
S2 |
S3 |
S4 |
S5 |
S6 |
Total |
|
In general, how would you say your health is? |
Good or excellent |
81.0 |
79.9 |
76.9 |
72.0 |
69.9 |
68.2 |
67.0 |
68.9 |
72.3 |
73.9 |
|
How often do you usually have breakfast on weekdays (more than a glass of milk or fruit juice)? |
Every day |
71.6 |
69.3 |
63.0 |
50.9 |
46.3 |
44.0 |
- |
43.4 |
42.3 |
56.9 |
|
How often do you usually drink coke or other soft drinks that contain sugar? |
At least once a day |
12.0 |
11.0 |
10.8 |
12.1 |
13.3 |
13.5 |
- |
12.8 |
11.8 |
12.1 |
|
How often do you usually eat chips or fried potatoes? |
At least once a day |
12.2 |
11.2 |
9.1 |
7.9 |
7.2 |
6.4 |
- |
5.6 |
4.8 |
8.8 |
|
How often do you usually eat crisps? |
At least once a day |
23.7 |
22.7 |
20.5 |
14.2 |
13.3 |
12.6 |
- |
12.0 |
11.6 |
17.5 |
|
How often do you usually eat sweets? |
At least once a day |
25.2 |
24.9 |
23.9 |
22.2 |
22.8 |
22.2 |
- |
22.7 |
20.8 |
23.4 |
|
How often do you usually eat fruit? |
At least once a day |
40.2 |
40.7 |
40.8 |
34.5 |
33.1 |
30.4 |
- |
29.6 |
30.6 |
36.3 |
|
How often do you usually eat vegetables? |
At least once a day |
28.8 |
30.0 |
31.5 |
32.4 |
32.4 |
31.7 |
- |
33.9 |
37.5 |
31.5 |
|
Some children and young people go to school or to bed hungry. How often does this happen to you? |
Never |
- |
- |
57.7 |
60.1 |
60.6 |
62.2 |
64.9 |
70.4 |
72.3 |
62.1 |
|
Add up all the time you spent doing physical activity yesterday: |
2 hours or more |
27.5 |
32.0 |
34.6 |
33.5 |
33.0 |
32.6 |
28.0 |
23.8 |
21.1 |
30.8 |
|
How often do you usually do any physical activity in your free time (outside school hours) so much that you get out of breath or sweat? |
At least once a week |
85.5 |
87.8 |
88.6 |
87.1 |
85.8 |
86.0 |
82.3 |
81.2 |
82.0 |
85.9 |
|
Mean hours of sleep on a school night |
More than 8 hours |
84.1 |
83.3 |
75.7 |
55.4 |
41.4 |
32.3 |
26.6 |
23.7 |
23.2 |
56.0 |
|
Mean hours of sleep on a school night |
Less than 6 hours |
1.5 |
1.2 |
1.1 |
9.6 |
14.4 |
16.2 |
16.4 |
16.5 |
15.4 |
8.7 |
Table 11 Percentage of pupils responding to a range of questions in relation to their health, diet, physical activity and sleep, by question asked, response given and pupil sex
Survey question |
Pupil Response |
Female |
Male |
Not known |
Total |
|
In general, how would you say your health is? |
Good or excellent |
70.6 |
77.0 |
83.6 |
73.9 |
|
How often do you usually have breakfast on weekdays (more than a glass of milk or fruit juice)? |
Every day |
51.3 |
62.3 |
68.9 |
56.9 |
|
How often do you usually drink coke or other soft drinks that contain sugar? |
At least once a day |
11.2 |
13.0 |
7.0 |
12.1 |
|
How often do you usually eat chips or fried potatoes? |
At least once a day |
8.4 |
9.1 |
5.7 |
8.8 |
|
How often do you usually eat crisps? |
At least once a day |
18.2 |
16.9 |
14.6 |
17.5 |
|
How often do you usually eat sweets? |
At least once a day |
24.6 |
22.2 |
23.2 |
23.4 |
|
How often do you usually eat fruit? |
At least once a day |
38.2 |
34.0 |
48.6 |
36.3 |
|
How often do you usually eat vegetables? |
At least once a day |
33.3 |
29.5 |
39.8 |
31.5 |
|
Some children and young people go to school or to bed hungry. How often does this happen to you? |
Never |
59.9 |
64.4 |
65.0 |
62.1 |
|
Add up all the time you spent doing physical activity yesterday: |
2 hours or more |
26.6 |
35.0 |
35.2 |
30.8 |
|
How often do you usually do any physical activity in your free time so much that you get out of breath or sweat? |
At least once a week |
83.9 |
87.9 |
89.9 |
85.9 |
|
Mean hours of sleep on a school night |
More than 8 hours |
84.0 |
87.1 |
95.5 |
85.6 |
|
Mean hours of sleep on a school night |
6 hours or less |
9.6 |
7.7 |
7.0 |
8.7 |
Table 12 Percentage of pupils responding to a range of questions in relation to their health, diet, physical activity and sleep, by question asked, response given and deprivation
Survey question |
PupilResponse |
SIMD 1 (most deprived) |
SIMD 2 |
SIMD 3 |
SIMD 4 |
SIMD 5 (least deprived) |
Not known |
Total |
|
In general, how would you say your health is? |
Good or excellent |
69.2 |
71.1 |
73.6 |
75.9 |
79.3 |
82.6 |
73.9 |
|
How often do you usually have breakfast on weekdays (more than a glass of milk or fruit juice)? |
Every day |
47.1 |
51.2 |
57.0 |
61.6 |
67.5 |
67.2 |
56.9 |
|
How often do you usually drink coke or other soft drinks that contain sugar? |
At least once a day |
16.9 |
14.5 |
11.6 |
9.5 |
7.8 |
7.6 |
12.1 |
|
ow often do you usually eat chips or fried potatoes? |
At least once a day |
12.2 |
10.4 |
8.8 |
7.0 |
5.3 |
6.2 |
8.8 |
|
How often do you usually eat crisps? |
At least once a day |
19.4 |
18.5 |
17.4 |
16.7 |
15.7 |
15.1 |
17.5 |
|
How often do you usually eat sweets? |
At least once a day |
24.3 |
24.4 |
23.4 |
22.4 |
22.7 |
23.1 |
23.4 |
|
How often do you usually eat fruit? |
At least once a day |
28.5 |
31.1 |
35.7 |
39.6 |
46.1 |
47.2 |
36.3 |
|
How often do you usually eat vegetables? |
At least once a day |
20.6 |
25.3 |
31.9 |
36.6 |
43.4 |
39.3 |
31.5 |
|
Some children and young people go to school or to bed hungry. How often does this happen to you? |
Never |
56.8 |
59.0 |
62.3 |
64.8 |
67.3 |
64.6 |
62.1 |
|
Add up all the time you spent doing physical activity yesterday: |
2 hours or more |
28.6 |
29.7 |
31.0 |
31.8 |
33.0 |
34.7 |
30.8 |
|
How often do you usually do any physical activity in your free time (outside school hours) so much that you get out of breath or sweat? |
At least once a week |
82.0 |
83.6 |
86.1 |
87.8 |
90.1 |
89.6 |
85.9 |
|
Mean hours of sleep on a school night |
More than 8 hours |
52.9 |
53.4 |
55.9 |
56.6 |
60.5 |
60.8 |
56.0 |
|
Mean hours of sleep on a school night |
6 hours or less |
10.9 |
9.8 |
8.6 |
8.2 |
6.0 |
7.2 |
8.7 |
Contact
For enquiries about this publication please contact:
Email: school.stats@gov.scot
For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:
Office of the Chief Statistician
Telephone: 0131 244 0442
e-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback