Standing view · health · Brentwood
improving, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2025.
Adults who are obese in Brentwood accounted for 27.31% in 2023/24, an unfavourable movement, and 20.64% in 2024/25, a favourable one. Adults who smoke made up 4.01% in 2024 and the suicide rate was 6.89 per 100,000 over the pooled period 2022 to 2024, both favourable. Children who are physically active accounted for 57.18% in 2024/25. Three of the four measures with a direction moved favourably, and obesity was lower in 2024/25 than in 2023/24.
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 Brentwood. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Adults who are obese | 2023/24 | deteriorating |
| Adults who are obese | 2024/25 | improving |
| Adults who smoke | 2024 | improving |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Children who are physically active | 2024/25 | — |