The Health Survey Northern Ireland is conducted annually and covers a wide range of health topics. The 2012/13 survey included questions relating to general health, longstanding illness, smoking, alcohol, obesity, physical activity, child health, breastfeeding, skincare prevention, hospital visits, general practitioners, medicines and pharmacy management, sexual health and carbon monoxide and smoke alarms.

Some key findings

Almost one-quarter of respondents (24%) were current smokers (25% of males and 23% of females).

Smoking prevalence was higher in the most deprived areas (37%) than in the least deprived areas (12%).

Almost four-fifths of those surveyed (79%) aged 18 and over stated that they drank alcohol, while 15% said that they had never drank alcohol.