What is the problem?
Severe obesity can be described as having a body mass index (BMI) of 35kg/m2 or above. People with severe obesity have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. This shortens people’s life span and reduces quality of life.…
About 1 in 7 females are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. This makes breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK. In Scotland, cases of breast cancer are expected to rise by around 27% by 2030. Evidence suggests that breast cancer risk can be reduced by about…
Minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol was introduced in Scotland in May 2018 as part of the Scottish Government’s strategy to reduce the health and social harms associated with alcohol misuse. The graph below shows that for a long time Scotland has had the highest alcohol-specific death rate in…
Falls and older people
Falls are a common and serious occurrence for everyone and are more common in older people. One in three community dwelling people aged 65 years or over fall at least once per year. Falls can lead to injury, fractures, disability, poorer quality of life, loss of…
The British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) Healthy Eating Week is a dedicated week in the year to encourage healthy eating and drinking, physical activity, and to celebrate healthy living. In 2019, BNF Health Eating Week runs from 10-14 June.
To mark the week we've produced a short video on HERU research…
In May 2018, the Scottish Government set a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol. In a forthcoming paper in the Nordic Journal of Health Economics, we use data on household’s weekly off-sales alcohol purchases to assess who the Minimum Unit Pricing policy is likely to affect most. The…
