CITIZENS of Serbia do not consume fruit every day, they are reluctant to engage in physical activities outside of work, they exercise a small percentage, and even ride a bicycle, but that is why every fourth person smokes, and almost half of the nation does not run away from alcohol. The latest Health Statistics Yearbook of Serbia for 2020, which was recently published by the Institute of Public Health “Dr Milan Jovanović Batut”, showed that our health habits are diverse.
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For example, only 41.8 percent of citizens consume at least one cup of milk and / or dairy products a day, while in 2013 this percentage exceeded half of the nation. This is rarely done by the poorest, respondents with a lower level of education and residents of suburban settlements. Bread is used every day by 86.2 percent of the nation, more often by men, older than 65, residents of southern and eastern Serbia, the poorest.
The use of animal fats for meal preparation increased by 14 percent compared to 2013 (in 39.2 percent of citizens), while only 39.4 percent of them eat fruit every day. Vegetables are represented seven times a week on the table of half of the respondents. Residents of Belgrade eat significantly more often fruits and vegetables, as well as those with higher education and better material status.
Regarding physical activities, the largest number of citizens (46.3 percent) are exposed to moderate physical effort during work activities. 41.1 percent of people are exposed to light effort (mostly sitting or standing), while 9.8 percent are exposed to hard work.
75.2 percent of the population practices daily walking for at least 10 minutes, and nine percent exercise cycling. The people of Vojvodina dominate here with 23.5 percent. Only 9.7 percent of the population of Serbia spends at least 30 minutes a day walking or cycling.
It is interesting that our citizens sit for an average of 4.7 hours a day, mostly in Belgrade (5.8 hours). The so-called excessive sedentary lifestyle (sitting for 420 minutes or more during a normal day) is exposed to 23% of the population, ie every fourth. Also, every fourth person smokes, and 31.9 percent of those older than 15 do it every day or often. In our country, the use of tobacco has been one of the most common health risk factors for many years.
In the year preceding the research, every fourth smoker tried to quit tobacco, every second was worried about their own health, and only a third received the advice of a doctor to give up this habit.
In Serbia, 49.3 percent of the population consumes alcohol, while 39.3 percent have never tried it.
WE DRINK LESS THAN EUROPEANS
At least once a month, 9.2 percent of the population drinks excessively (more than six drinks in a row), which is a lower percentage than the EU average. Norwegians get drunk the most – 73.4 percent, Danes (28.7) and Romanians (23.9). The EU average is 14.8, and Slovenians and Croats are above us with 18.2 and 12.6 percent of the population, respectively. In Serbia, it is worrying that every sixth adolescent drinks excessively at least once, regardless of gender!
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