Annual Report 2024/25 - Monitoring Progress

Between 2019 and 2023, 19% of people in Shetland were drinking at harmful levels. This is the same level as between 2018 and 2022 and is lower than the Scottish rate of 20%, however, is higher than the 2021 target of 18%. Almost a fifth of people in Shetland drink above the Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk guidelines. This includes 12% of women and 27% of men (2019-2023). More information on alcohol harms in Shetland can be found on Alcohol Focus Scotland’s local profiles.

Last year we reported that Shetland had a higher rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions compared to Scotland, in 2022/23. In 2023/24, the rate had lowered below the Scottish level. While the rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions for 11-25 year olds remains higher than the Scottish rate, this has decreased from the previous year. Shetland has a high prevalence of alcohol availability compared to Scotland.

The percentage of children who are not a healthy weight in Primary 1 increased from 13% in 2022/23 to 17.9% in 2023/24. In Scotland, this figure rose from 15% to 15.7% over the same period. The Primary 1 Body Mass Index (BMI) statistics for the 2023-2024 school year highlight that the proportion of children classified as having a healthy weight in Scotland ranged from 78.9% in NHS Lothian to 67.9% in NHS Orkney, with 72.3% of children in Shetland having a healthy weight. Similarly to Scotland, Shetland saw a spike in unhealthy weight during COVID-19, followed by a decline, but has experienced a rise again in 2023-24.

In 2023, 82% of people engaged in some form of sport and physical activity, a decrease from 87% in 2022. However, this is an increase on the baseline of 77% and exceeds the 2021 target. It is also above the Scottish level of 79%. Last year we reported that physical activity levels from the Scottish Health Survey showed that Shetland was slightly lower than Scotland in 2022. However, in 2023 66% of people met the activity guidelines, compared to 65% nationally. This is based on a different indicator that measures meeting the current activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week, or an equivalent combination of both.