The Health
of Children and Young People
Foreword
This volume is one of three reports on the findings of the twelfth year of the Health Survey for England, undertaken on behalf of the Department of Health.
The survey provides a major vehicle for monitoring the health
of the population and the information is used to underpin strategies for
promoting better health.
The survey is unique in providing objective measures of health,
such as height and weight measurements, blood pressure measurements and
analyses of blood samples, alongside information from questionnaires.
The survey contains a wealth of socio-demographic data which is valuable
for monitoring inequalities in health.
This year the report is published as three separate volumes.
The main report (Volume 1) focuses on the health of children and young
people, covering topics such as fruit and vegetable consumption, smoking,
drinking, respiratory conditions, physical activity, accidents and obesity.
The second volume covers maternal and infant health. The third volume
takes a detailed look at the methodology of the Health Survey for England
2002. Information from the survey has also been added to annual trend
tables on the Department of Health's surveys website at http://www.doh.gov.uk/stats/trends1.htm
I welcome these valuable reports and would particularly like to express my thanks to all those people who gave up their time to take part in the survey. Without their help we would lose a public health tool of enormous potential to benefit and protect the health of every one of us.
SIR LIAM DONALDSON
Chief
Medical
Officer
