People who wanted to take part in a health and lifestyle survey in the Isle of Man had less than a week to take part.

The survey opened on Tuesday and will close on Sunday.

The health and lifestyle survey is currently being undertaken by the Department of Health and Social Care.

An invitation to complete the survey, which runs until October 29, was sent to 7,000 households randomly selected from the publicly available property database earlier this month.

Health chiefs say the approach aimed to ensure that the information gathered was representative of the island’s population.

From Tuesday the entire community was invited to complete the survey so that additional data can be gathered, although the initial representative sample will be analysed separately.

The questions focus on general health and wellbeing, diet, physical activity and lifestyle choices - including a specific focus on attitudes to gambling - and respondents can choose which questions they feel comfortable answering.

The survey can be completed online or downloaded from gov.im/healthandlifestylesurvey and paper copies, as well as additional information, are available from the Public Health Directorate by telephoning 642639 or emailing [email protected]

Paper copies can also be picked up around the island at the following locations:

The Welcome Centre, Sea Terminal, Douglas

Henry Bloom Noble Library, Douglas

Ramsey Library

Onchan Library

Port Erin Library

Ward Library, Peel

Peel Town Hall

The DHSC says the results of the survey will provide valuable information on the health and wellbeing of the population and will help shape cross-government policies.

Director of public health Dr Henrietta Ewart said: ’The information gained from the survey will feed directly into service planning. For example, we include questions about gambling because the DHSC does not currently have comprehensive services and pathways for people with problem gambling, and we do not know the extent and patterns of gambling on the island.

’The results will form an essential part of the joint strategic needs assessment for gambling which is currently under way. Future services and pathways will be based on this needs assessment.

’The survey report, Gambling Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, gambling strategy and implementation plan will all be published online as they are completed, so people will be able to see how the information from the surveys is used to plan services.’

All answers disclosed in the survey will be completely anonymous and any information treated in the strictest confidence, in accordance with the Isle of Man Data Protection Act 2002.

The survey will close at midnight on Sunday, October 29.

The results of an independent report into the health and well-being in the island were published earlier this week.

As the Isle of Man Examiner reported on the front page, a quarter of five-year-olds are overweight and one in five adults is obese.