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Obesity and weight loss top list of health concerns
June 18, 2012
A survey of web searches has revealed that obesity, weight loss and fitness are common concerns among the British public.
The most common health issues involved in online searches are obesity and weight loss, a new study has found.
Intuition Communication analysed web searches relating to health matters and found that 21 of the top 50 search terms concerned weight, dieting, obesity or getting fit.
When it came to specific diseases, the most common one searched for by the British public in the three months to April 21st 2012 was chickenpox, followed by shingles and diabetes.
The company's fourth annual Healthcare WebWatch report also revealed that the majority of common search terms driving traffic to private medical insurance websites were made up of company names.
And more than two-fifths (40.4 percent) of visitors to health and medical websites in the UK were consumers over the age of 45, reflecting the fact that people in this age group are more prone to illness.
Keith Pollard, a spokesman for Intuition Communication's website Private Healthcare UK, said: "This year's report shows the increasing problem that the country faces in dealing with obesity, and how more and more people are seeking advice and guidance over the internet."
Mr Pollard added that the fact people are making "positive moves" towards improving their weight and fitness is "encouraging".
NHS figures for 2010 suggest that 42 percent of men and 32 percent of women were overweight that year, while 26 percent of both sexes were classified as obese.
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