Statistics Explained

Archive:Health effects of smoking, nutrition and exercise

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Data from 2008. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article presents statistics on health determinants in the European Union (EU), particularly on smoking, dietary habits and physical activity.

In Europe, 6 of the 7 biggest risk factors for premature death – blood pressure, cholesterol, overweight, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, physical inactivity and alcohol abuse – relate to how we eat, drink and move.

Figure 1: Consumption of fruits and vegetables (at least one per day), 2008 collection round (1) (% of population aged 15 years old or over)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_ehis_de7)
Figure 2: Persons practising daily physical activity by sex, 2008 collection round (1) (% of population aged 15 years old or over)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_ehis_de9)
Figure 3: Comparison of a share of reported overweight and obese persons with a consumption of vegetables (at least one per day), 2008 collection round (1) (% of population aged 15 years old or over)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_ehis_de9)
Table 1: Daily smokers by sex, 2008 collection round (1) (%)
(1) Data collection round refers to years 2006-2009 depending on the country
Source: Eurostat (hlth_ehis_de9)

Main statistical findings

Nutrition

Good nutrition and physical activity are very important determinants of health. Daily vegetable consumption ranged from around 50.8 % in Malta to 85.2 % Belgium; daily fruit consumption was the highest in Slovenia (74.7 %) and the lowest in Bulgaria (45.2 %) (see Figure 1).

Physical activity

Concerning daily physical activity rates, the highest proportion of physically active men (more than 70 %) was noted in Czech Republic and Latvia, the lowest in Malta (28.2 %). Women were most active in Greece (just over 60 %) and least active in Malta (18.2 %), as shown by Figure 2.

Smoking

Smoking remains a major risk to health in European countries (see Talble 1). The proportion of daily smokers among the population aged 15 years and over varies greatly across countries. Among the 16 EU Member States for which data are available, rates were lowest (below 20 %) in Slovenia, Belgium, Malta and Slovakia.

In contrast, Greece maintained the highest level of smoking around 2008, along with Bulgaria, with close to 30 % or more of the population smoking daily. Concerning daily smokers among the population aged 15-24, the highest proportion was noted in Austria (29.4 % of all persons aged 15-24), the lowest in Romania (12.4 %).

Data sources and availability

The European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), which is used to provide data for this part of the publication, aims at measuring on a harmonised basis and with a high degree of comparability among Member States the health status, life style (health determinants) and health care services use of the EU citizens.

The first wave of the EHIS was implemented during the period 2006-2009 under a gentlemen’s agreement[1].

Context

The EHIs addresses the consumption of fruits and vegetables, the consumption of alcohol and practice of physical activities. The importance of those issues is reflected in the definition of corresponding health determinants indicators in the European Union community health indicators (ECHI). ECHI defines a list of 88 indicators for sustainable health monitoring in Europe. For those monitoring purposes Eurostat collaborates with Member States on the drafting of a Regulation to launch a second wave of the EHIS in 2014.

See also

Further Eurostat information

Data visualisation

Publications

Database

Health determinants (hlth_det)
Body mass index (BMI) (hlth_bmi)
Physical activity (hlth_pha)
Consumption of fruits and vegetables (hlth_cfv)
Tobacco consumption (hlth_smok)
Alcohol consumption (hlth_alc)

Dedicated section

Source data for tables, figures and maps (MS Excel)

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 2006: Austria, Estonia; 2007: Slovenia, Switzerland; 2008: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, France, Latvia, Malta, Romania, Turkey; 2009: Germany, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia.
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