A Social Report for Ireland Volume II - the NESC Website

people of working age 135The cost may deter some people from visiting a GP even when they are sick.For example, the National Youth Council of Ireland reported that 20 per cent of18-25 year olds did not attend the doctor when they were sick due to financialcosts (National Youth Council of Ireland, 2009: 20). The proportion of people atrisk of poverty who do not have a medical card or health insurance is worrying inthis regard. An associated problem may be the ability to access a GP. For instance,many Travellers (up to 17 per cent) have experienced difficulty in registering witha GP, as in some areas only a small number of GPs provide services to Travellers(Department of Health and Children, 2002: 68). 92Risk BehavioursThe second component in the health domain is risk behaviours. People’sbehaviours affect their well-being. The choices people have, and consequently theirbehaviours, are influenced by their socio-economic conditions, and other factorsincluding the behaviour of their peers. Under the risk behaviour componentwe present three indicators: smoking; alcohol consumption; and beingoverweight/obese.We draw on the results of the 2007 SLÁN survey (survey oflifestyle, attitudes and nutrition).SmokingFigure 7.39 shows the percentage of smokers in 2007 by age, gender and socialclass. Overall, 29 per cent of the population report being cigarette smokers, and ingeneral, men are more likely to smoke than women: 31 per cent compared to 27 percent. There are higher rates of smoking among younger people (18-29) and thosein semi-skilled and unskilled occupational groups. It is striking that more thanhalf (56 per cent) of women aged 18-29 in semi-skilled and unskilled occupationalgroups smoke. This is worrying given the detrimental effect of smoking on healthand the potential damaging impact on children. Smoking has declined in recentyears (1998-2007) for most groups except for semi-skilled and unskilled women(Morgan et al., 2008: 75).92. An All-Ireland Traveller Health Study ‘Our Geels’ was initiated in autumn 2008.