Your surroundings, including employment and housing, and how lonely or isolated you feel can significantly affect your health. People’s experiences and environment can cause different levels of health and wellbeing across the borough.
In Westminster, there are 153,400 working-age residents (75%), 45% of whom identify as being from a global majority background. There are approximately 2,800 autistic adults living in the borough.
One in eight residents smoke, one in four feel anxious, and half are overweight. In addition to health differences between locations in the borough, we see different health outcomes among residents from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Residents from a global majority background are more likely to have diabetes, be overweight, have poor mental health and suffer from hypertension.
The rising cost of living is one of the biggest issues our residents face at the moment, and it can affect our mental and physical health. We must continue to support residents in maximising their income and opportunities while also providing crisis support to our most vulnerable residents.
Being outside in nature and the sun with the activity has been great and relaxing, and more of these would help me manage my weight, mood and chronic pain.
Mental health and wellbeing
Over one in four residents report feeling anxious.
Over one in four (around 28%) residents reported feeling high levels of anxiety. One in 16 has a GP diagnosis of depression; this is more common among residents from a Black and Black British or Mixed (particularly Caribbean) background and those living in more deprived areas. Although rates of suicide in the borough are below those for England, on average, 17 residents take their lives each year.
Drug misuse
Almost 7,000 residents aged 18 or over are at high risk of drug dependence. This is the most common cause of death in under 50s in the most deprived areas. There are more deaths at younger ages in more deprived areas. The mortality rate in the 45-49 years age group in the most deprived area is 11 times higher than the least deprived.
Find out about the work we are doing to support residents who use substances, their families and carers, by reading our 2023 Public Health Report.
Obesity
Half of adults in Westminster are overweight or obese.
Obesity is associated with reduced life expectancy and can impact our mental health and wellbeing. 13,400 adults in Westminster are diagnosed as obese. There are many drivers of obesity, including access to healthy food, physical activity, and social and psychological factors. One in five residents is inactive. Residents identifying from a Black ethnic background have almost three times the rates of obesity than those from a white background.
Long-term health conditions
Over 30% of residents have a long-term health condition.
Over 70,000 residents aged 16 and over have one or more long-term conditions in our borough. The proportion of conditions increases with age and is higher among those living in more deprived areas. Residents identifying from a Black ethnic background have almost double the rate of hypertension and almost three times the rates of diabetes than those from a White background.
The uptake of NHS health checks (once every five years) is among the top ten boroughs in London, with 48% of residents taking up the offer.
Smoking
One in eight adults smokes.
One in eight (12%) residents aged over 18 smoke. Those most likely to smoke are those in manual occupations, those living in the more deprived areas of the borough, those who identify themselves as from Mixed White and Black Caribbean ethnic backgrounds, people with mental health conditions and people in treatment for drugs or alcohol. The smoking quit rate is similar to the London average (54%).
Drinking alcohol
One in four people in Westminster drinks more alcohol than is recommended.
Someone in mid-life who smokes, drinks too much, exercises too little and eats poorly is four times as likely to die over the next ten years than someone who does none of these things. A quarter of residents drink more than is recommended, and 7,500 residents aged 18 or over have a high risk of alcohol-related health issues. Alcohol-related hospital admissions are above the London average.
Sexual health
In 2022, there were 4,900 new diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis, HIV, gonorrhoea and chlamydia. This is the fifth highest in England.
References
Our JSNA brings together data and insight from a range of sources. Below are some of the key sources of data used for this section.
Data used in this section was collated in February 2024.
If you require any further information on specific references, please contact us at [email protected].
- Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). Public health profiles.
- Office for National Statistics (ONS). People population and community.
- Whole Systems Integrated Care (WSIC) DID February 2024
The Northwest London ICB data access committee granted WSIC ethical approval to use de-identified data for a 2.7 million patient population. This approval is bound by the Health Research Authority (HRA) ethics agreement, which is in place for WSIC until 2028. No identifiable confidential patient data was available or used in this research.