Standing view · health · Vale of White Horse
improving, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2025.
Health measures in Vale of White Horse have been improving. Adults who smoke was 1.9 in 2023 and the suicide rate, per 100,000 8.13 across 2022 to 2024, both recorded as favourable against the usual pattern, while adults who smoke was 7.03 in 2024 and unfavourable. Adults who are physically active stood at 78.17 in 2023/24 and 73.27 in 2024/25. Two favourable readings against one, with the smoking series reversing between editions, is why the view is held as established rather than strong.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Vale of White Horse. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Adults who smoke | 2023 | improving |
| Adults who smoke | 2024 | deteriorating |
| Suicide rate, per 100,000 | 2022 - 24 | improving |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Adults who are physically active | 2023/24 | — |
| Adults who are physically active | 2024/25 | — |