Standing view · health · Forest of Dean
improving, held with strong confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2025.
Health measures in Forest of Dean have been improving, and the view is held strongly. Adults who are obese was 25.9 in 2023/24, deaths before age 75, per 100,000 was 295.66 in 2023, and the suicide rate, per 100,000 was 10.73 across 2022 to 2024, every one of those recorded as favourable against the usual pattern. Children who are physically active stood at 39.72 in 2023/24. Three measures moving the same way, from three different parts of the health picture, is what makes the view strong, though each contributes a single reading rather than a run.
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 Forest of Dean. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Adults who are obese | 2023/24 | improving |
| Deaths before age 75, per 100,000 | 2023 | 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 | 2023/24 | — |