Annual Report 2025/26 - Data Updates and Analysis
Drinking at Harmful Levels/Children not a Healthy Weight in Primary 1/People Engaged in Sport and Physical Activity
Drinking at Harmful Levels
The three-year average, 2021/24, of 18% of people in Shetland drinking at harmful levels, continues to be a gradual decline from 27% as the three-year average 2012/15. This is lower than the Scottish rate of 22%. 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.
Children not a Healthy Weight in Primary 1
The percentage of children who are not a healthy weight in Primary 1 decreased to 14.7% in 2024/25, from 17.9% in 2023/24. In Scotland, the average was 17.4%, and showed a slight increase, having been on a downward trend. The Primary 1 Body Mass Index (BMI) statistics for the 2024-2025 school year highlight that the proportion of children classified as having a healthy weight in Scotland ranged from 77.2% in NHS Orkney to 68.3% in NHS Western Isles, with 75.3% of children in Shetland having a healthy weight.*
People Engaged in some form of Sport and Physical Activity
In 2023, 82% of people engaged in some form of sport and physical activity, a decrease from 87% the previous year. However, this is an increase on the baseline of 77% and exceeds the 2021 target. It is also above the Scottish level of 79%. There is no update for 2024 for this indicator, this is due to the Scottish Household Survey moving to asking the related question on a biennial basis, the next update will be for the year 2025.
*This is using the epidemiological category as opposed to clinical. Epidemiological thresholds are used for population health monitoring purposes and refer to those at risk within the population.