Indicator Updates March 2024
Updates have been made to the indicators: ‘People drinking at harmful levels’, ‘children in primary 1 who are not a healthy weight’, and ‘carbon emissions’.
People drinking at harmful levels
19% of people in Shetland were drinking at harmful levels between 2018-2022 (Scottish Health Survey). This is a 1% decrease from 2017-2021 and is lower than the Scottish rate of 23%. There has been a gradual reduction in the percentage of people drinking at harmful levels, reducing from 27% in 2012-2015.
Almost a fifth of people in Shetland drink above the Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk guidelines. This includes 9% of women and 31% of men (2018-2022). More information on alcohol harms in Shetland can be found on Alcohol Focus Scotland’s local profiles.
Updated data, trends and analysis is available on our people drinking at harmful levels page.
Children who are not a healthy weight in Primary 1
13% of children in Shetland were not a healthy weight in Primary 1 in 2022/23, a decrease from 17.3% the previous year.
The percentage of children who are not a healthy weight in Primary 1 has fluctuated between 2016/17 and 2022/23. While there was a decrease between 2016/17 and 2018/19, this rose to a high of 22% in 2020/21 and there has been a decline since. The trend for Scotland is similar.
To reduce the overall proportion of children in Scotland with unhealthy weight and to reduce inequalities in unhealthy weight needs comprehensive and sustained action.
Updated data, trends and analysis is available on our children who are not a healthy weight in Primary 1 indicator page.
Carbon emissions
Published in 2023, the latest BEIS dataset shows Shetland's carbon emission estimates for 2021 is higher than our emissions from 2020, as is expected due to behavioural and system changes during COVID.
Carbon emissions in Shetland Islands Council area was 18.9 tonnes per capita compared to 5.1 for Scotland. Carbon emissions directly impacted by the Council in Shetland was 6.0 tonnes per capita compared to 4.6 for Scotland.
Shetlands emissions per capita is significantly higher than Scotland’s average due to our remote location, population distribution, economy and geology.
Read more on trends, analysis on our indicator page for carbon emissions.