Partnership agrees Orkney-wide health strategy

Orkney’s key public services have agreed on actions to put the county’s health on the road to improvement.

Figures highlighted in the strategy show that Orkney faces a range of health improvement challenges — particularly in relation to smoking, misuse of alcohol and obesity.

The strategy highlights some alarming statistics about the shape of Orkney’s health —  for example, the rising number of people who are overweight or obese, with the upward trend in childhood obesity a particular cause for concern. Data shows 29 per cent of children in primary one and 33 per cent of children in primary seven were overweight or obese in 2009/10.

Full report in this week’s The Orcadian