A new NHS quiz aims to help people figure out just how healthy they are and provide them with personalised recommendations for improvement.
The Mirror says that for many January is the month of healthy new beginnings but as the month comes to an end it can be easy to get back into bad habits. The NHS warns that about 40% of deaths in England are directly related to people's diet, exercise, drinking and smoking habits. To help people realise the things that have a big impact on their health as well as what they can do to improve, it has launched a new test that will tell you exactly what changes you need to make permanently to improve your health.
The 10-minute quiz called 'How Are You? Health Quiz' is part of its Better Health programme, which aims to provide people with all the information they need to start making changes in a "healthy and achievable way". The test gives you a personalised health score out of 10 based on your habits.
Available on the NHS website, the quiz takes just 10 minutes and starts by asking for some basic information, including your name, gender and age. It then moves on to ask you about how you feel, where you'll see six sliding scales with options including "really knackered" to "fitter than ever" that you can move to where best represents how you currently feel.
After this, you'll be quizzed about what is stopping you from taking care of yourself, such as not knowing what to do, not having any time, or being ill. You'll then also be asked about who depends on you being healthy, such as children, parents or partners. The next question asks what your top three health priorities are, which can include answers such as feeling young, fitting into my jeans, and having more energy.
After this, you'll be given some advice about your well-being that varies depending on your answers, before the quiz moves on to asking you more specific questions about your lifestyle — including the choices you would usually make when it comes to food and drink. You're asked to choose between a number of options, including what type of drink, breakfast, cheese, meat, potatoes and snacks you'd normally choose. This section also includes a question about how many servings of fruit and vegetables you eat in a day and will give you more advice depending on your answers.
The next section moves onto the "stronger stuff", asking you about your alcohol intake, including how many units your drink and how often. You'll be told whether your intake is dangerous or not and advised on whether you should change how much you're drinking at all.
Part four asks you about how much exercise you do every week, where you can choose between 0 and 150 minutes for each day on a sliding scale. You're also asked the same question about strengthening exercise, which can include activities such as "weights, sit-ups, yoga, carrying heavy shopping bags, digging the garden". Finally, you are asked whether you smoke.
After finishing the quiz you'll then receive your score out of 10 and can see whether you're in Red, Amber or Green for categories including moving, eating, drinking and smoking. You'll also be given some advice about what you can do to improve and tips to help make you healthier, such as trying to have alcohol-free days, switching to healthier meals, or doing more exercise.
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