The Health and Lifestyles Survey (HLS)

The Health and Lifestyles Survey (HLS) is nationwide in-home face-to-face survey designed to monitor of health behaviour and attitudes of New Zealand adults aged 15 years and over. The HLS is managed by the HPA and collects information relating to the programme areas the HPA works in, including tobacco control. The HLS is carried out every two years, with the first HLS carried out in 2008. Each of these surveys have included between 1,600 and 3,000 adults (aged 15 years and over).

Graph list:
1.   Ever smoked tobacco
2.   Ever smoked 100 cigarettes
3.   Frequency smoke cigarettes (ever smokers)
4.   Frequency smoke cigarettes (adults 15+)
5.   Smoking status
6.   When stopped smoking (past smokers)
7.   Number of quit attempts in past 12 months (smokers and recent quitters)
8.   People should be able to smoke indoors at a marae
9.   People should be able to smoke outdoors at a marae
10. People should be able to smoke outdoor on sport fields
11. Smoking is a real problem in New Zealand
12. Society disapproves of smoking
13. Tobacco companies should not be allowed to promote cigarettes and tobacco by having different brand names and packaging
14. The government should do more to reduce the harm done by smoking
15. The number of places allowed to sell cigarettes and tobacco should be reduced to make them less easily available
16. There should be complete bans on displays of cigarettes and tobacco inside shops
17. Tax on cigarettes and tobacco should be increased and all the extra money used to help smokers wanting to quit
18. Cigarettes and tobacco should not be sold in New Zealand in 10 years' time

Available filter variables:
Gender, Age group, Ethnicity, Parent/Caregiver, Highest qualification, Urban/rural, Household equivalised income, Deprivation, Household composition, Smoking status, Quitting attempts

Definitions:
Current smoker: People who were smoking cigarettes or tobacco at least once a month at the time of the survey
Daily smoker: People who were smoking cigarettes or tobacco at least once a day at the time of the survey
Ever smoker: People who have ever smoked cigarettes or tobacco, even just a few puffs.
Never smoker: People who have never smoked cigarettes or tobacco, not even a few puffs.
Recent/past quitter: People who have smoked cigarettes or tobacco in the past, but they no longer smoke at the time of the survey.

Other information:
Some HLS questions have been circulated through years, so some data points are not avaliable for some years.
Details of the procedures followed to ensure these surveys produce high-quality and robust data can be found in the related methodology reports. These can be accessed here.