Germany lives so healthy

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

A healthy lifestyle is not a guarantee of health, but it does significantly increase your chances of doing so. Scientists in 28 EU countries surveyed the population about diet and physical activity, their tobacco and alcohol consumption and obesity - and compared the results with those of other countries. In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute has taken on this task. The result: In some health disciplines, Germans behave healthier than their European neighbors. But there are also some areas with particularly great potential for improvement.

Sporty Germans

A current meta-analysis shows how great the influence of sport is on health: For those who do a lot of sport, the risk of premature death is a third lower than for people who exercise particularly little.

The good news: Compared to other Europeans, Germans are very active. After all, 45 percent of women and 51 percent of men achieve the 150 minutes of physical endurance activity recommended by the World Health Organization per week - the EU average is only 26 and 36 percent, respectively.

Germans are less diligent when it comes to strength training - the recommended twice a week reaches 31 percent of German men and 27 percent of women.

Young vegetable grouch

The heart and circulatory system in particular benefit from fruit and vegetables. “Five times a day” is the recommendation of the German Nutrition Society. At least once a day, 54 percent of German women manage to eat a serving of fruit and 40 percent a serving of vegetables. Men do this much less often: only 38 percent eat fruit every day, just 23 percent eat vegetables every day. This puts Germany in the bottom third of a European comparison.

Overall, people with a higher education in Germany eat more healthily - but fruit and vegetable consumption also increases significantly with age - especially among men. Young people, on the other hand, eat particularly little fruit and vegetables.

Binge drinking is widespread

Although the health risks are well known, Germans tend to have problematic behavior with alcohol compared to many neighboring countries. 24 percent of women and at least 42 percent of men drink themselves a high at least once a month. That is almost twice as many as the European average.

Smoking is in the middle

When it comes to smoking, Germans are in the middle of the European field. 19 percent of women and 25 percent of men smoke in this country. There are still far too many. In Germany, young women in particular resort to the glowing stick more than in most of the neighboring countries.

15 percent are obese

Germans are slightly above the European average when it comes to obesity: 15 percent of women and men have a BMI of 30 or more. 52 percent of adults in Germany have a BMI of over 25. This means that more than every second person is too fat.

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