How fit are you compared to others in Yorkshire?

Now there’s a calculator that can help you find the answers. The device is part of the Yorkshire Health Study, which has been launched by the University of Sheffield.

There are already 30,000 who have joined, to help supply the data, and the researchers are aiming to recruit 100,000 in the region by the end of this year. After filling in an online questionnaire, which takes five minutes, the Yorkshire Health Calculator reveals how you compare to the average Yorkshireman or woman.

The research team, which is based at the University of Sheffield’s School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), began recruiting people in 2010 by inviting people through their GP surgeries in South Yorkshire. The data will inform NHS decision-making and could contribute to the next medical breakthrough.

Dr Clare Relton, who leads the Yorkshire Health Study at the University of Sheffield, said: “Back in the 1950s, a similar study helped to identify the link between cigarette smoking and heart disease and cancer. By filling in the Yorkshire health questionnaire, you could help us make a similar breakthrough.”

This study is part-funded by the National Institute of Health Research, Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, Yorkshire and Humber.

To find out more about the study and take part in the health questionnaire, click here or contact the team via 0114 222 0796 and a questionnaire can be sent in the post.