From cancer warning signs to heart disease risk factors – online quiz reveals how clued up you are on all things health

ARE you clued up on general health and wellbeing knowledge – knowing how much fruit and veg you should eat a day and the amount of exercise you should aim for each week?

An online tool can help you find out your Health IQ number and how you compare to the rest of the nation.

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Questions delve into nutrition and diet, chronic conditions and preventative health, resulting in suggested ways to take a more proactive approach to your health – have a go at the quiz here.

It comes as a poll of 2,000 adults found they will diagnose themselves with 1,202 illnesses and ailments over the course of their lifetime by turning to ‘Dr Google’.

The first thing 14 per cent do when they start feeling unwell is search their symptoms online, rather than going to a pharmacy, making a GP appointment or visiting a walk-in centre.

Individuals typically do this twice a month, but Gen-Z’s do so more than any other generation at three times a month.

The research was commissioned by Bluecrest and found the majority turn to search engines for insights (77 per cent), followed by medical websites and AI platforms (15 per cent).

As a result, 56 per cent have self-diagnosed themselves with an illness – and 33 per cent of those who have done so were incorrect with their diagnosis.

They only found out they’d falsely detected something when they received correct test results (38 per cent), spoke to a professional at their local surgery (38 per cent) or visited hospital (34 per cent).

Dr Martin Thornton, chief medical officer at Bluecrest said: “We rely on online sources for so much of our information these days.”

“But when it comes to our health, we shouldn’t solely accept what we read online, particularly when the source isn’t backed up by reliable, expert-led research.

“Although it’s useful to find out what symptoms might mean and get a quick answer, the outcomes can cause more worry than its worth.

“We created the Health IQ because we believe health intelligence has never been more important, in this world of growing misinformation.

“We hope our tool can help change that, making people more aware of their health knowledge, and encouraging them to take proactive steps to understand their bodies better.”

The research also found reasons for initially searching online include to get a quicker answer (51 per cent), peace of mind (43 per cent) and to find out what the next symptoms might be (22 per cent).

Despite this, 34 per cent believe searching online when feeling unwell often tells you the worst news and 40 per cent said it can cause more issues in the long run.

And 38 per cent admitted while it’s quick and easy to self-diagnose it’s often incorrect.

A fifth have sought professional help after being alarmed by online results, but on average people wait six days before speaking to a medic.

The OnePoll stats also revealed lack of knowledge around health and wellbeing, including 20 per cent not knowing the recommended daily fruit and veg portion number is five.

A further 61 per cent aren’t aware the advised amount of physical activity adults should aim for a week is 150 minutes and half don’t know the healthy range for BMI – which is between 18.5-24.9.

Dr Martin added: “The results of the research and our Health IQ tool highlight some gaps in knowledge around general wellbeing, nutrition and conditions.

“It’s important to be clued up on your own health status in order to correctly treat and prevent issues.

“In the long run this will help have a smarter approach to personal health.”