SURVEY RESULTS
NUTS-1 regions
4.7. Dietary salt
Table 39 presents the respondents’ salt-consumption habits by sex and age group. When both sexes are considered, more than one fourth of the study population (28.1%) always or often added salt to their food
before eating. Although there was no statistically significant difference at 5% significance level between men (29.3%) and women (26.8%) in this regard, there were significant differences between age groups. The proportion of always or often adding salt to their food before eating was highest in the groups aged 15–29 (33.1%), and progressively declined in the groups aged 30–44 (26.8%), 45–59 (26.3%), 60–69 (23.1%) and ≥ 70 (22.8%). Similarly, about a quarter of the respondents (26.0%) stated that they always or often added salt to their food when cooking or preparing meals at home, and this proportion showed declining trend with age:
29.7% of those aged 15–29, 26.8% of those aged 30–44, 25.6% of those aged 45–59, 20.2% of those aged 60–69 and 15.4% of those aged ≥ 70. Table 39 also shows the proportion of respondents who reported always or often eating processed foods high in salt (25.5%); this was higher in males (27.8%) than females (23.3%).
Table 39. Respondents’ use of dietary salt by sex and age group
Use
Age group (years)
Men Women Both sexes
N % 95% CI N % 95% CI N % 95% CI
Always or often add salt before eating or when eating
15–29 482 35.5 30.4–40.6 668 30.7 26.4–35.0 1150 33.1 29.7–36.5 30–44 640 25.8 21.5–30.0 1043 27.9 24.4–31.4 1683 26.8 24.0–29.7 45–59 634 28.4 23.6–33.2 970 24.2 19.5–28.8 1604 26.3 22.9–29.7 60–69 379 24.5 18.8–30.1 461 21.8 16.8–26.9 840 23.1 19.3–27.0
≥ 70 272 25.2 17.9–32.5 440 21.0 15.8–26.3 712 22.8 18.4–27.2 Total 2407 29.3 26.7–31.9 3582 26.8 24.6–29.0 5989 28.1 26.3–29.9 Always or often
add salt when cooking or preparing food at home
15–29 461 29.7 24.7–34.7 662 29.8 25.4–34.2 1123 29.7 26.3–33.2 30–44 626 26.2 22.1–30.3 1041 27.4 23.5–31.3 1667 26.8 23.9–29.7 45–59 621 24.6 20.1–29.2 967 26.6 22.1–31.2 1588 25.6 22.3–28.9 60–69 365 21.8 16.4–27.2 458 18.8 14.2–23.5 823 20.2 16.6–23.9
≥ 70 262 16.5 11.0–22.1 432 14.6 10.2–19.1 694 15.4 11.7–19.2 Total 2335 25.9 23.3–28.5 3560 26.1 23.8–28.4 5895 26.0 24.2–27.9 Always or
often consume processed food high in salt
15–29 484 35.1 30.1–40.0 665 32.2 27.6–36.7 1149 33.6 30.1–37.1 30–44 641 26.8 22.7–30.9 1044 23.5 19.7–27.2 1685 25.1 22.2–28.1 45–59 632 25.4 20.8–30.0 970 17.9 13.6–22.2 1602 21.6 18.4–24.9 60–69 381 18.3 13.7–22.8 459 16.1 11.8–20.5 840 17.2 13.9–20.4
≥ 70 267 17.5 11.9–23.1 427 11.5 6.4–16.6 694 14.1 10.3–17.9 Total 2405 27.8 25.3–30.3 3565 23.3 21.0–25.6 5970 25.5 23.7–27.4 Table 39 also shows that the percentage of men and women always or often adding salt when cooking or preparing food at home (25.9% and 26.1%, respectively).
Fig. 14 presents estimates of the proportions of the study population who thought lowering their dietary salt intake is very important: 75.6% overall. The proportion was higher in women (78.1%) than men (73.2%), although the difference is not significant. The percentages of the study population giving high importance to lowering salt in their diets did not vary much across age groups for either men and women, but was somewhat lower for the group aged 15–29.
Fig. 14. Respondents who think lowering salt in diet is very importantFig. 9. Respondents who think lowering salt in diet is very important
Fig. 10. Proportions of respondents not engaging in a vigorous physical activity by sex and age group
65.8 75.3 75.2 84.2 77.4 73.2
73.8 77.3 83.2 81.4 80.0 78.1
69.8 76.3 79.2 82.8 78.9 75.6
0
15–29 30–44 45–59 60–69 ≥70 TOTAL
Percentage
89.8 93.1 91.3 94.5 97.8 92.2
74.8 80.6 82.9 90.3 95.0
81.3
15–29 30–44 45–59 60–69 ≥70 TOTAL
Percentage
Men Women Both sexes 4.7.1. Conclusions
Some of the most important results on respondents’ use of salt included the following:
● 28.1% always or often added salt or salty sauce to their food before eating or as they were eating (males:
29.3%, and females: 26.8%);
● 25.5% always or often ate processed foods high in salt (males: 27.8%, and females: 23.3%);
● 75.6% thought that reducing salt in their diets was very important (males: 73.2%, and females: 78.1%).
4.8. Physical activity
For the analysis of STEPS data, existing guidelines were followed in the study: a person’s energy consumption when being moderately active is estimated to be four times as high as it is when sitting quietly, and eight times as high when being vigorously active. Throughout a week, including activity for work, during transport and leisure time, WHO recommends that adults should engage in at least (44) :
● 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity; or
● 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity; or
● an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity achieving at least 600 MET-minutes.
Table 40 presents the physical activity of the study population using the definitions of levels of physical activity given in section 3.14.1.4: 26.0% of respondents performed moderate activity; 24.6%, high activity; and 49.4%, low activity. As expected, the group aged ≥ 70 reported significantly lower proportions with moderate or high activity (18.6% and 10.8%, respectively) and a greater proportion with low physical activity (70.6%).
While both men and women showed the same tendency for activity to decline with age, more men (36.3%) than women (13.1%) engaged in high levels of physical activity, a statistically significant difference at the 5%
level (as the results with 95% CI do not overlap – 33.6–39.0% for men versus 11.5–14.6% for women). For the moderate physical activity levels, the proportion is higher, but not statistically significant at the 5% level, 26.3% for men and 25.8% for women. The percentages with low levels of physical activity showed the same pattern: 37.4% for men and a significantly higher (at 5% level) 61.1% for women.
Table 40. Respondents’ levels of total physical activity as defined by WHO by sex and age group
Sex Age group
(years) N Low activity Moderate activity High activity
% 95% CI % 95% CI % 95% CI
Men 15–29 467 31.7 26.3–37.2 25.6 20.9–30.3 42.6 37.0–48.3
30–44 623 37.3 32.6–42.1 23.4 19.0–27.9 39.2 34.5–44.0
45–59 626 37.5 33.0–42.0 28.5 24.2–32.9 34.0 29.0–38.9
60–69 371 47.2 41.0–53.4 30.8 25.4–36.2 22.0 16.8–27.3
≥ 70 272 51.5 44.0–59.0 29.1 22.4–35.8 19.5 13.2–25.7
Total 2359 37.4 34.7–40.1 26.3 23.9–28.7 36.3 33.6–39.0
Women 15–29 646 56.2 51.6–60.9 29.3 25.1–33.5 14.5 11.1–17.9
30–44 1009 58.0 53.9–62.1 28.2 24.5–31.8 13.9 11.1–16.6
45–59 946 58.4 53.9–62.9 26.3 22.2–30.3 15.3 12.4–18.3
60–69 449 72.1 66.9–77.3 19.1 14.7–23.5 8.8 5.6–12.0
≥ 70 439 84.9 81.0–88.7 10.9 7.5–14.2 4.3 2.0–6.6
Total 3489 61.1 58.9–63.3 25.8 23.8–27.8 13.1 11.5–14.6
Both sexes
15–29 1113 43.8 40.1–47.6 27.4 24.3–30.6 28.7 25.2–32.2
30–44 1632 47.7 44.5–50.9 25.8 22.9–28.7 26.5 23.6–29.4
45–59 1572 48.0 44.7–51.3 27.4 24.4–30.4 24.6 21.7–27.6
60–69 820 60.2 56.0–64.3 24.7 21.2–28.2 15.1 12.0–18.3
≥ 70 711 70.6 66.4–74.8 18.6 15.1–22.2 10.8 7.6–14.0
Total 5848 49.4 47.6–51.2 26.0 24.5–27.6 24.6 22.9–26.2
The study population spent a median of 30.0 minutes (interquartile range: 4.3–90.0) in physical activity on average per day. This value was higher in males (51.4 minutes – interquartile range: 11.4–180.0) than females (17.1 minutes – interquartile range: 0.0–55.0).
Table 41 reports respondents’ mean minutes of work-related physical activity on average per day by sex and age group: 56.4 minutes. The mean amount of work-related physical activity was significantly higher in men (91.5 minutes) than women (22.1 minutes). The highest amounts were 132.6 minutes for men in the group aged 30–44 years and 26.9 minutes for women in the group aged 45–59.
Table 41. Respondents’ mean minutes of work-related physical activity on average per day by sex and age group Age
group (years)
Men Women Both sexes
N Mean
(minutes)
95% CI
(minutes) N Mean (minutes)
95% CI
(minutes) N Mean (minutes)
95% CI (minutes)
15–29 467 80.4 58.6–102.2 646 23.4 14.4–32.3 1113 52.2 40.2–64.3
30–44 623 132.6 100.0–165.1 1009 25.8 18.9–32.6 1632 79.1 62.1–96.2
45–59 626 93.3 72.9–113.7 946 26.9 18.1–35.6 1572 60.1 48.8–71.4
60–69 371 40.4 23.4–57.3 449 9.6 4.7–14.6 820 24.4 15.6–33.1
≥ 70 272 15.9 7.6–24.2 439 6.2 3.2–9.3 711 10.4 6.3–14.4
Total 2359 91.5 77.8–105.2 3489 22.1 18.1–26.1 5848 56.4 49.2–63.6
Table 42 presents the mean minutes of transport-related physical activity on average per day by sex and age group: 33.1 minutes (41.0 minutes for men and 25.3 minutes for women). The mean was highest in the group aged 45–59 in both men (43.7 minutes) and women (28.0 minutes). Table 43 presents the respondents’ mean minutes of recreation-related physical activity on average per day by sex and age group (10.2 minutes), which was significantly higher in men (14.7 minutes) than women (5.8 minutes). This mean is highest in the youngest age group: 22.2 minutes for men and 9.4 minutes for women.
Table 42. Respondents’ mean minutes of transport-related physical activity on average per day by sex and age group
Age group (years)
Men Women Both sexes
N Mean
(minutes)
95% CI
(minutes) N Mean (minutes)
95% CI
(minutes) N Mean (minutes)
95% CI (minutes)
15–29 467 43.5 36.7–50.4 646 26.6 23.2–29.9 1113 35.2 31.3–39.0
30–44 623 37.2 31.8–42.6 1009 27.6 23.6–31.6 1632 32.4 29.1–35.7
45–59 626 43.7 37.5–49.9 946 28.0 24.2–31.9 1572 35.9 32.1–39.6
60–69 371 37.8 30.6–45.1 449 20.7 15.0–26.4 820 28.9 23.9–33.9
≥ 70 272 42.0 29.1–54.8 439 10.3 7.7–12.8 711 23.8 17.8–29.8
Total 2359 41.0 37.7–44.4 3489 25.3 23.3–27.4 5848 33.1 31.0–35.1
Table 43. Respondents’ mean minutes of recreation-related physical activity on average per day by sex and age group
Age group (years)
Men Women Both sexes
N Mean
(minutes)
95% CI
(minutes) N Mean
(minutes)
95% CI
(minutes) N Mean (minutes)
95% CI (minutes)
15–29 467 22.2 17.4–27.0 646 9.4 4.4–14.3 1113 15.9 12.4–19.4
30–44 623 11.9 6.1–17.7 1009 4.7 3.1–6.2 1632 8.3 5.2–11.4
45–59 626 13.9 8.2–19.7 946 4.2 3.0–5.4 1572 9.1 6.1–12.0
60–69 371 7.1 2.8–11.5 449 5.4 1.3–9.5 820 6.2 3.2–9.2
≥ 70 272 4.6 1.7–7.5 439 1.2 0.0–2.5 711 2.7 1.2–4.1
Total 2359 14.7 12.0–17.5 3489 5.8 4.1–7.4 5848 10.2 8.6–11.8
Table 44 presents the estimates for the percentage of respondents who did not meet the WHO recommendations on physical activity for health (< 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, or equivalent), broken down by age group and sex. The percentage was 43.6% overall, although more women (53.6%) fell short than men (33.1%): a statistically significant difference at 5% level. The percentage of study population not meeting the WHO recommendations showed a rising trend with age: 37.8% for the group aged 15–29, rising to 66.1% for those aged ≥ 70 when both sexes are considered jointly.
4. SURVEY RESULTS
Table 44. Proportions of respondents not meeting the WHO recommendations on physical activity for health by sex and age group
15–29 467 26.7 21.5–31.9 646 49.2 44.4–54.0 1113 37.8 34.2–41.5
30–44 623 33.7 29.0–38.3 1009 49.8 45.6–54.0 1632 41.7 38.5–45.0
45–59 626 32.7 28.2–37.1 946 50.9 46.1–55.6 1572 41.8 38.4–45.2
60–69 371 43.8 37.7–50.0 449 66.2 60.6–71.8 820 55.5 51.3–59.7
≥ 70 272 47.8 40.3–55.3 439 79.8 75.4–84.2 711 66.1 61.8–70.5
Total 2359 33.1 30.5–35.6 3489 53.9 51.6–56.3 5848 43.6 41.8–45.4
Fig. 15 shows the proportions of respondents who did not engage in vigorous physical activity: 81.3% overall, although more women (92.2%) than men (70.1%) were inactive. These proportions rose with age.
Fig. 15. Proportions of respondents not engaging in a vigorous physical activity by sex and age group
6
Fig. 10. Proportions of respondents not engaging in a vigorous physical activity by sex and age group
65.8 75.3 75.2 77.4 73.2
73.8 77.3 81.4 80 78.1
15–29 30–44 45–59 60–69 ≥70 TOTAL
Percentage
89.8 93.1 91.3 94.5 97.8 92.2
74.8 80.6 82.9 90.3 95.0
81.3
15–29 30–44 45–59 60–69 ≥70 TOTAL
Percentage
Men Women Both sexes
4.8.1. Conclusions
Some of the most important results on respondents’ physical activity included the following:
● 43.6% had insufficient physical activity, defined as <150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, or equivalent (males: 33.1%, and females: 53.9%);
● the median time spent in physical activity on average per day was 30.0 minutes (males: 51.4 minutes, and females: 17.1 minutes);
● 81.3% of respondents did not engage in vigorous activity (males: 70.1%, and females: 92.2%).