The latest New Zealand Health Survey results provide valuable information about the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders.
The 2022/23 New Zealand Health Survey results are based on data collected between July 2022 and July 2023.
We thought you might be interested to read a summary of the results provided by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora. You can follow the links to get more information about these aspects of health on the Healthify website.
Key findings show:
- Most adults in New Zealand (86.2%) reported they are in good health, similar to levels reported over the previous five years.
- The rate of hazardous drinking declined from 18.7% in 2021/22 to 16.0% in 2022/23. Read more about alcohol and harmful drinking.
- Smoking rates continued to decline, with 6.8% of adults being daily smokers in 2022/23, down from 8.6% the previous year and 16.4% in 2011/12. This decline in daily smoking was observed across all ethnic groups recorded in the survey. Daily smoking was more common in adults living in the most deprived neighbourhoods (10.7%). Read more about quitting smoking.
- The rate of daily vaping increased over the past five years from 2.6% in 2017/18 to 9.7% in 2022/23. Daily vaping was highest among those aged 18–24 years (25.2%), and among Māori (23.5%) and Pacific peoples (18.7%) and also more common in adults living in the most deprived neighbourhoods (15.8%). Read more about vaping.
- In the four weeks prior to completing the 2022/23 survey, one in five (21.2%) young adults (aged 15–24) experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress. High or very high levels of psychological distress were also more common in disabled adults than in non-disabled adults. Read a selection of topics on mental health for young people.
- Less than half of adults (46.5%) met physical activity guidelines and about one in three adults (32.6%) in New Zealand were classified as obese, a rate that is similar to five years ago.
Get information about a healthy approach to weight loss. - More than one in three Māori (35.1%) and Pacific (39.6%) children were living in households where food runs out sometimes or often. Read our series on living well on a budget.
- Over half of children aged four months to less than five years at the time of the survey (58.1%) were exclusively breastfed until four months old. This was the highest rate reported in the last 10 years. Get information and support about breastfeeding.
- Visits to the GP decreased over the last five years, while visits to the emergency department increased. One in five adults (21.2%) and one in seven children (14.8%) experienced ‘time taken to get an appointment was too long’ as a barrier to visiting the GP. Get information about telehealth services and where to go for medical help.
Further information about the New Zealand Health Survey, including previous publications, is available at New Zealand Health Survey.
Reference
Latest New Zealand Health Survey results provide valuable information about the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders Ministry of Health, NZ, 2023